Returning Home
by tashicutz
Summary: Temari returns home after an 8 year absence to find her brothers broken, as she attempts to help heal their past she meets a troublesome man on the way. Can he help her or make things worse?
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so I guess this is how it goes…I have not written a story in quite some time.. this is my first Naruto fanfic…personally I would love it if I got some input back from anyone who decides to read the first chapter here…I was going to make it longer but someone told me not to…whatever… anywho, tell me if there are mistakes and where you think I am going with the story, it might help in the future writing of the fanfic… if you hate it with a fiery passion let me know, unlike a lot of people I find it better to know if someone hates what I am doing…thank you for your time…

Chapter 1 – The Past Visited

As she looked past the hills of sand and into the sunset, a sparkle came to her eye. She stood on her balcony watching the sun bid 'adieu' to the desert that stretched out for miles in every direction.

'Good-bye…' she whispered.

In a few short hours she would be climbing aboard a plane and leaving the desert she called home to start a new life in Japan where she would reunite with her brothers.

Temari was separated from her brothers shortly after their father's death eight years ago. Her father was an official delegate from Egypt and his job caused him to be away from his family. His job required him to travel a lot between Egypt and Japan. On a return trip to Egypt a very confused and scared man who didn't understand the terms being discussed between both countries shot him. Her father died on the way to the hospital.

It was a very hard time for all the kids; they had already lost their mother when she was involved in a hit and run, while walking the youngest of the siblings to daycare, and now their father was lost as well. They were split up according to a will that was found in her father's belongings shortly after his death. Temari was to live with her father's mother in Egypt, and Kankuro and Gaara were to live with their mother's brother in the country, a days drive from their previous home in Japan. According to the will, when Temari turned 18 she was to be given a hefty fortune, and their old home, in which were provided to reuniting the siblings and take care of them.

Temari had turned of age about a week ago and was leaving Egypt to start her new life.

She was slightly nervous to see her brothers again, wondering if they had changed at all in the past 8 years. She let out a sigh as she remembered the past.

"_Gaara! Gaara! Where are you squirt?" Temari called through the halls as she opened doors in search of her youngest brother._

"_Why don't you just give up? He's not worth it," spoke Kankuro from behind Temari, she whipped around in surprise._

"_Shut up!" she spat glaring at him._

_They were fraternal twins, but she was born a minute before him, and they were so very different. He was cold hearted and had a crude sense of humour, especially when it came to their youngest brother. You see Kankuro was the closest to their mother and held a grudge against Gaara, blaming him for their mother's death. When Kankuro got mad he usually took it out on Gaara, though Temari always tried her hardest to stop him._

"_You stupid useless sack of skin! I'll get you later Gaara!" Kankuro yelled before leaving Temari alone in the hall, to continue searching._

'_Finally!' thought Temari as she checked to make sure Kankuro had really left. When she was sure he was gone she ran up to the 3ed floor and to the last door on the right. She walked in to the nearly pitch black room, then walked over to where there was a small bit of light seeping in through a crack in the wall, but not before she shut the door._

_When she reached the wall she knocked once on it, then pushed on the wall. The wall slowly began to move and a dimly lit corridor appeared. The corridor was lined with candles that dripped wax down the walls and spilled into pools on the floor. At the end of the corridor were two doors. Temari continued down the corridor to the door on the right, she pushed it open to see Gaara lying on the floor in a heap shaking._

"_Gaara?" Temari called softly as she walked slowly to the young boy._

_He looked up at Temari with tears staining his face and blood dripping from his nose, which looked to be broken. Temari swooped forward and picked the boy up and sat in a chair not to far from where Gaara had been lying. She cradled him as he cried his eyes out. Gaara was kind of small for his age and had bright red hair, which Temari began to pet to sooth the boy's sobs._

"_It's alright now Panda-chan, I'm here," Temari whispered._

_Gaara looked up into Temari's face and gave a little smile. Temari smiled back._

"_Are you all right now?" Temari asked him._

"_Kankuro punched me in the nose after he stole my bear" sniffed Gaara._

_Temari put the boy down on the floor then walked across the room and turned on the light. She then looked around the room. There was a small bed in one corner of the room, and a sofa and chairs on the opposite side. There was a cabinet with a small amount of food in it, as well as cloths and a first aid kit. Temari picked up the first aid kit and a cloth; she proceeded to walk out of the room. When she came back the cloth was damp, she then walked back over to Gaara and bent down in front of him with the wet cloth and began to carefully wipe away the blood that stained his face. Gaara winced slightly at the pain as she continued to clean his face. Temari examined his nose in the process._

"_Well, its broken" she stated, then she put a piece of tape on his nose. "There!" she smiled._

"_Thank-you Temari!" Gaara smiled at her, then gave her a hug. "I'll miss you when you're gone" he mumbled into her shoulder._

"_I'll miss you to Panda-chan. Everything will be okay, just keep your head up and don't be afraid." She gave him a squeeze, as they enjoyed there last hours together…_

'I hope Gaara is all right. No! I know he's all right!' she shook the bad possibilities out of her head.

The sun had set and there was a light glow in the sky where it was last seen. Just then a door opened behind her, capturing her attention.

"Grandmother Chiyo" Temari whispered sadly, for she knew that it was time.

"It's time to leave now Tem," was all she said before she slipped back inside the house.

Temari walked in after her and picked up the bags by the door then picked up her guitar and swung it over her shoulder as well. She took one last look around her room. Everything looked bare, the walls, the bed, the desk, everything. She sighed as she left the room, and left the memories, but not before placing a medium sized box on her bed.

Temari and her grandmother drove from their place in Gizah to Cairo where she thanked her grandmother for everything then boarded the plane for a 13 hour flight to Osaka, Japan; her home from long ago.

Temari ran down the platform as fast as she could with cramped legs. When she reached the departure area it was packed with many people. She looked around and could not see anyone that looked remotely familiar, that's when realization started to seep it.

'Oh no! I haven't seen them in 8 years! What do they look like? What if I don't recognize them? No! Have to think on the bright side!' Temari let out a breath then started towards her luggage, which just began its turn around the luggage carousal, when all on a sudden she saw something red out of the corner of her eye. Temari snapped her head to the side to see what it was; there was nothing there. Sighing she turned back in the direction of her luggage only to have been greeted by 2 pairs of eyes.

"Uncle Yashamaru! Aunt Karuri!" Temari smiled at the two familiar faces.

"Temari it is good to see you again" Karuri stepped forward pulling Temari into an embrace that lasted for a few seconds, before pulling away and smiling at her.

"How was your trip Temari?" asked Yashamaru, giving her a one armed hug.

Temari's face scrunched up at the thought, "Long!" she sighed. Her aunt and uncle laughed at her expression.

Temari quickly looked around again noticing that there were only two people that had come to greet her. "Where are my brothers?"

Her uncle quickly turned to get her bags while her aunt's smile grew tight. "There at the house" she began uneasily. "They did not come."

Temari noticed her aunt and uncle's unusual behaviour but quickly pushed it aside. "I see," she stated as she walked over to help her uncle locate her belongings. Temari's uncle and aunt took her to her house and helped her bring her luggage to the door.

"Temari" her uncle hesitated, "You look like your mother" and with that they both left but not before waving goodbye.

'Wonder what that was about?' Temari thought as she picked up her bags and entered the house from long ago.

Temari gazed about the room after closing the door with a thud. There was dust everywhere; nothing had changed since she was last in her childhood home 8 years ago. She felt as though she was in a dream, walking the same path she used to she began looking around.

'I thought Gaara and Kankuro would be here' Temari paused and listened for sound, but the house was dead quiet. An idea struck her, 'the secret corridor!'

As Temari ran through the halls and up the three flights of stairs, memories of her family began to flood back into her mind; some that made her smile, giggle, and some that just made her heart hurt. As she reached the third floor she started down the hall with excitement but paused, she looked around to make sure she was not being followed, at this action she let out a small laugh as she let a smile grace her lips. She preceded to the last door on the right side; as she entered, the room was as dark as she remembered it, then she saw it, the small amount of light that seeped out from a crack in the wall.

Temari's smile proceeded to grow bigger as she bounced over to the wall where she knocked once then began to push. The wall moved for her to reveal a very familiar corridor. There was little that had changed, candle wax was still on the floor and down the walls but there were new candles being burned in the holders. Temari slowly made her way down the corridor till she reached the door on the right side. The door was ajar so she walked in slowly, the room was dark but things were still visible, it seemingly had not changed to her, until she noticed a movement in the corner of the room, where the bed was if she remembered correctly. She began to hear heavy breathing, as she got closer to where the movement had come from. Temari reached out a hand to touch whatever, or who ever it was there and found warmth, her hand had come into contact with something warm, but what she had no idea. Suddenly there was light and she realised that it was Gaara's face she had touched.

Temari's eyes widened as tears began to form, she pulled him into a hug, "I've missed you brother" she smiled into his shoulder, then began to shake as she broke out into laughter.

"Temari what are you laughing at?" said a voice from behind her.

Temari let go of Gaara who was slightly red, and looked to where the voice had come from. Her eyes fixed upon a character with familiar messy, brown hair and a smirk upon his angular face.

"Kankuro!" she smiled as she walked half the room's length and met him in an embrace. "I've missed you both so much" she said as she pulled away to get a good look at him.

He had grown in so many ways. He was now taller and thicker then when they were children. His muscular body was visible beneath his black shirt that clung to his hardened chest. He was wearing slightly baggy jeans with tears at the knees, his face showed partial amusement and relief as he smiled at her. She then began laughing again.

"Why are you laughing?" Kankuro asked as he twisted his face in a bewildered expression.

"Ha ha, I'm just so happy to be back home with both of you. You have no idea how much I've missed you both" she laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye caused from laughing so hard. Temari turned back to Gaara and looked him over. He had to have changed the most out of the two.

Gaara still had his messy red hair but it seemed to have been a more brilliant colour then she had remembered and now skewed out over his forehead. He had grown at least 2 feet in eight years it really surprised her. He stood at a good 5'10" at least, which made him taller then her. The chubby childlike face she once knew was gone; his features were angular and sharp, which made him to be quite a handsome young man. His body was also quite muscular beneath his attire. He wore a black muscle shirt and plain khaki shorts. He looked so grown up. Then she noticed something that was defiantly not there before, hidden behind his hair.

"What's one your forehead Gaara?" Temari stepped towards him to get a better look.

Gaara raised one hand and pushed his hair back revealing a kanji tattooed on his forehead, Temari's eyes widened.

"When did you get that?

"Three years ago" he stated with a hard look upon his face that confused Temari.

"It looks good on you kid," she said as she ruffled his hair a bit, which caused him to glare. "Oh that reminds me. Why didn't you to come and meet me at the airport?" she asked a little hurt.

Gaara and Kankuro exchanged looks of pain and worry.

"You might want to take a seat, this will take a while to get through" Kankuro murmured.

Ok so that's my first chapter…what ever…review please…bye

Tasha


	2. Chapter 2

Well, this chapter will be mostly information, I don't think I will be introducing any more characters but I might because I am still unsure. This, in my point of view is an important chapter. Again please let me know what you think, if there are any mistakes anything you didn't like or something you really liked let me know. Also it would be useful if whoever reads this story of mine would predict for me what you think will happen next, I find it is a way to prevent writers block, which would suck to have. Enjoy!

Chapter 2- While You Were Gone

"What do you mean? What's with the looks?" Temari demanded as she took a step forward.

"Temari sit down," Gaara said firmly.

Temari was surprised by her younger brothers sudden intensity and followed orders. She sat on the bed in the corner Gaara sat beside her and Kankuro seated himself on the floor in front of the two.

Kankuro looked at Gaara then began to speak "When we moved in with Aunt Karuri and Uncle Yashamaru things were the same between Gaara and I. I still treated him like shit. At the time he meant nothing to me but a useless sack of skin that should be disposed of. I had noticed that he distanced himself from me, I barely saw him, though I did notice he spent a lot of his time with Uncle Yashamaru. It continued that way between us for almost six years." Kankuro looked up at Gaara apologetically.

"When we first moved in things were fine, I just had to avoid Kankuro's wrath. I spent most of the first three months with Yashamaru, I finally began to think things were going to be all right, I was" Gaara hesitated "happy. After about three months Yashamaru began acting weird with me, I would catch him glaring at me from time to time. Then I knew something was wrong when I accidentally broke a glass and he walked over to me and punched me in the head." Temari gasped watching him intently with wide eyes.

"After that day it gradually turned into common beatings. For the longest time I didn't understand the reason for it. The beatings continued for five years until I finally had the courage to tell Karuri about what Yashamaru was up to, she turned to me and slapped me. She told me that I deserved everything that was being given to me, that I must be punished. When I had asked her 'why?' she said because love doesn't exist for the unwanted. That night was the first night that I had passed out from the brutality." Temari was as stiff as a board and wide-eyed.

"I went out after saving up money from my temp job and got this" Gaara gestured to his forehead. "I was 12 at the time. It ended up being one of the things I had control over in my life, but when Yashamaru and Karuri discovered it the aftermath was not to pretty. I was unconscious for three days. About a year after that Yashamaru received a letter from my school."

_Gaara was in his room when all of a sudden his uncle came storming in with a letter in hand._

"_What the fuck is this you little puke?" Yashamaru screamed at Gaara punching him in the gut._

_Gaara fell to the ground coughing up blood. "I don't know what you're talking about", Gaara said trying to pick himself up from the ground._

"_It's a god damn letter from your school! I never want them to contact us! You got that you piece" he kicked Gaara before he could get up, "of" kicked him again "SHIT!" Yashamaru screamed the last part and kicked Gaara as hard as he could in the face._

_Gaara, coughing up more blood, attempted to get up again. "It's probably nothing bad" he whispered to his uncle's retreating figure._

_Yashamaru stopped where he was, then turned to look at Gaara who was still struggling to get up from the floor. Yashamaru dashed from the room only to come back with a metal pipe in hand moment later. Gaara, who was now off the floor, just stared, too afraid to move. Yashamaru swung the pipe; Gaara tried to dodge but got clipped in the shoulder and fell into the nearby wall sliding to the floor. Yashamaru advanced upon him swinging the pipe as hard as he could, successfully striking the child every time, in whom was desperately trying to protect his head and neck. Blood splattered up the walls and all over Yashamaru as he continued to vent out frustration on the young child._

_Gaara screamed and cried out, but knew it was useless for nobody was home, and even if there were somebody no one would help him._

"I thought I was going to die. After about ten minute Yashamaru stopped then left the house. I was not sure how long I laid there for but" Gaara paused and let out a sigh, "I knew I needed to get help. I slowly crawled down the hall and into Kankuro's room where everything finally went blank." Gaara finished with a shiver and then looked at Temari who was silently crying now. Gaara hesitated then took one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. Temari looked up at him and he gave her a reassuring smile.

'I had no idea that things were so bad' Temari thought, as she looked at her little brother in the eyes, who just looked back. 'His eyes look so sad, I never realized. Were his eyes always this painful to look into?' Temari pulled her brother into a tight embrace as she suppressed the urge to cry out as she silently still cried.

"Temari" Temari turned to look at Kankuro who also looked sad. "Shall I continue?" he asked her sounding very concerned.

Temari let go of Gaara but kept one of his hands in hers. "Yes."

"I had no idea that Gaara was getting beaten on a regular basis for six years"

_Slam!_

"_I'm home!" yelled a 15-year-old Kankuro. There was no response as usual. "Guess no one's home."_

_Kankuro kicked off his shoes and made his way to the kitchen to grab a snack. He went to the cupboard and pulled out a box of cookies. He gave a little chuckle because he knew that they were Gaara's favourite, as he sat at the table and began helping himself. Halfway between his sixth cookie he noticed a letter on the table. He picked it up and read whom it was addressed._

_To: The Guardian(s) of Gaara Kazekage_

_From: Suna Private Middle School_

_Kankuro noticed that it was yet to be opened, and promptly stuffed it into his pocket to read later._

'_Stupid kids probably gotten himself into trouble,' Kankuro chuckled as he stuffed one more cookie into his mouth then ran upstairs. Kankuro came to a sudden stop at the top of the stairs._

"_Is that blood?" Kankuro whispered the smell of rust hitting his nose hard. Kankuro looked at the blood on the floor, there was a trail between his room and Gaara's. Kankuro took in a sharp breath as he slowly approached Gaara's room. The door was already open as he slowly walked inside. Kankuro's eyes widened with horror, there was blood everywhere, all up the walls, op the floor, the bed, everything. There was also a pipe lying in the middle of the room amongst the mess of blood. Kankuro stiffened in shock; air wouldn't reach his lungs he felt as if he were being choked. Then realization hit him. Every time he did see Gaara he would have visible bruises and small cuts all over his body._

"_This is Gaara's blood" Kankuro said unsteadily now beginning to shake, "It was leading to my-"Kankuro trailed off as he dashed from the room and down the hall to where the blood trail led to; his room._

_The door was slightly ajar as he pushed on it to reveal the bleeding, mangled body of his younger brother. Kankuro dropped to his knees and threw up until only bile came out._

"_He's dead! He's dead!" Kankuro began shaking as he heaved up more bile. His throat began to burn, as did his eyes when tears began pouring out. He looked up at Gaara's now blurry body only to have two pure white eyes staring back at him._

_Kankuro screamed and became paralysed with fear._

_Gaara's body began making noises. "Kuunkroooo" moaned Gaara in pain._

_Kankuro began crying harder as he got closer to Gaara, "I'm here Gaara" sobbed Kankuro, "I'm here."_

_Kankuro picked up the phone and called 911 crying into the phone for an ambulance and gave the address. He then picked up the bleeding heap and carried him downstairs to the front door where he proceeded to open it and waited for the ambulance that arrived a minute later._

"He was in the hospital for 4 months recuperating. There had been 47 broken bones. I had given consent for them to take one of my kidneys and give it to Gaara because one of his was punctured and caused too much internal bleeding and the other was just slightly bruised. When the doctors asked what happened Gaara told them that he was mugged. I stayed with him most of the time and brought him his homework. We talked about what was going on in the six years that I ignored him, he told me about all the beatings and the reasons for them. He had gotten a job by the age of 10 and I never knew" Kankuro put a hand to his mouth and stared at the ground not wanting to talk anymore.

Temari continued to cry as Gaara began to speak again. "I had a job since I was 10 because Yashamaru and Karuri only let me eat once a day. Even with everything that went on at that house I managed to be a strait 'A' student, eventually I was asked if I wanted to jump a grade because I was bored with the work I was doing, it was so simple to me that I began drawing in class." Gaara gave a cold laugh that sent chills down Temari's spine. "Kankuro gave me the letter that he had taken from the kitchen the day it happened, and it turns out it was the letter I had asked the school to send. I wanted them to finally acknowledge me as a human being, but it made things worse and Yashamaru never even read it"

"What did the school have to say?" Temari sniffed as she wiped away her tears.

"They were congratulating my guardians on having such a smart kid in the family and asked that I be moved up a grade" Gaara stated in a monotone voice.

Temari narrowed her eyes to the floor. It seemed like a long time before anyone spoke, so when Gaara started to speak again Temari jumped.

"After I had gotten out of the hospital Kankuro demanded that they consent to moving me up a grade. He stayed close to me at home over the next few weeks so there would not be any beatings. Yashamaru quickly caught on that Kankuro knew about the beatings. Kankuro and I began training ourselves to fight in case we ever put into a situation where it was necessary. It was proven to be useful because about a month after we started training Yashamaru got me alone and started to vent out on me" Temari's face showed worry again, as Gaara looked up at Kankuro and just smirked at the memory.

_Gaara was sent to the basement by his aunt to grab a sack of potatoes for supper, when he reached the bin at the far end of the basement he felt someone watching him and looked around to find his uncle behind him glaring. Gaara froze, mind going blank, and began breathing heavier._

_Yashamaru smiled, "I see your still afraid of me, you little puke." He laughed a low acid like laugh as he advanced on Gaara. He punched him in the stomach only to be met with a different feeling._

_Gaara began to laugh now, "You hit like a child" he smirked._

_Yashamaru glared at Gaara then swung to punch him in the face. Gaara caught his fist and began to twist. Yashamaru dropped to his knees and cried out in pain. Gaara pushed him to the ground and began to walk past him o9nly to stop when he felt a pain in his right leg. Looking down he saw a knife in his leg put there by Yashamaru who was now smiling wickedly up at Gaara. Gaara stumbled back a step in shock, then came to his senses and pulled the knife out advancing on his uncle. Yashamaru's smile vanished when he realized his nephew was now armed and dangerous. Gaara threw the knife to the side to Yashamaru's surprise, and then he punched him in the face causing Yashamaru to fall back onto the floor._

_Yashamaru scrambled away from Gaara attempting to get away, it was Gaara's turn to laugh now. "Your pathetic!" Gaara spat at his uncle, who now looked to have a broken nose. Gaara began walking forward, Yashamaru covered his face waiting for the impact but when it never game he looked to see Gaara pick up the sack of potatoes and walk back upstairs, but not before he threw a smile Yashamaru's way. The smile scared Yashamaru; it was full of amusement and cold sick power._

Gaara laughed a little at the memory of Yashamaru's face.

"Did he leave you alone after that?" Temari asked, noting his laugh.

"He was to scared to even come near Gaara!" Kankuro began laughing.

Temari couldn't help but chuckle at her two brothers.

"Oh and aunt Karuri nearly fainted when she saw uncle Yashamaru's broken nose. She threatened to call the police but I told her that she would have to deal with some serious shit if we told the police about what Yashamaru did to Gaara, that shut her up real good!" Kankuro laughed loudly at the thought.

"They did stop feeding us but Gaara had saved up so much money from his job that he bought us food for two years, and let me tell you, the kid can cook!" Kankuro said to Temari with a serious look upon his face.

Temari laughed at the look on Kankuro's face, "I'm sure he can cook."

Gaara turned a little red from the attention, both his siblings laughed at his reaction.

Temari stopped laughing and looked at Kankuro who wore a watch, "How long have we been down here for?" Temari asked suddenly.

Kankuro checked his watch, scrunching up his face in the process. "Maybe four hours?" he finally said looking up.

"I haven't eaten yet," moaned Temari as she lay back on the bed.

"Then lets got some food!" Kankuro yelled happily as he jumped up from the floor and dashed out the door.

"So things have gotten so good between you two that you showed him this place?" Temari asked Gaara with a smile.

"Hn" was the only response that Temari received.

Temari ruffle his hair, then took the glaring Gaara's hand and pulled him out of the room.

Kankuro was at the end of the corridor trying to open the passage back up with no success.

"Hey Kankuro!" Temari called to him, he turned obviously frustrated. "Is this your first time in here?" she asked with a smile.

Gaara chuckled beside her.

"Yah, why?" Kankuro asked tilting his head to the side, confusion was evident on his face.

"That's not the way out" Temari laughed. Kankuro walked back over to his siblings who continued to laugh a few moments longer before walking through the other door in the corridor.

The room wasn't very large, there was a sink to one side and four doors; two of which were side by side directly in front of the door they just entered and one to the left and one to the right. Gaara went first into the room and walked up to the door on the left knocked once then opened it. Gaara proceeded to walk through the door followed by Kankuro then Temari.

'I haven't been down here in such a long time' Temari thought as they walked down a large spiral staircase that was dimly lit by some blue glow that seemed to come from little cracks in the ceiling. When they reached the bottom of the staircase Gaara walked to where a yellow light seemed to hang from the wall then knocked on the wall once again. The hanging light seemed to droop slightly as the wall moved forward revealing the pantry just beside the kitchen.

Kankuro's jaw dropped. "How come I never knew that we had an elaborate maze inside this huge house?"

"Because it was mine and Gaara's secret that we stumbled upon," Temari stated simply, as she walked past Kankuro and headed for the fridge.

Temari opened the fridge to reveal a large amount of fresh fruit and vegetables and other kinds of great food.

"I take it you both went shopping?" she chuckle as she grabbed a peach and took it to the sink to wash it off. Temari turned around biting into the peach, watching her brothers as they grabbed their respective food and began to eat.

"I have to go and register us into school tomorrow" she began after swallowing, "I know that the school year has already begun but its easier if we start right away. I mean its only mid October and it shouldn't be to hard to get caught up with all the assignments. Does that work for the both of you?" she asked taking another bite of her peach.

"No problem here" Kankuro said with his mouth full of cereal.

"Same" Gaara added after swallowing his mouth full of cereal. He was blocking his bowl from Kankuro afraid he would spit food.

Temari laughed at the two while finishing her peach. "Well I am going to clean a bit before heading off to bed," she said as she walked from the room.

Her brothers stared after her, then turned back to their meal.

'Tomorrows going to be fun' Temari sighed as she picked up her bags by the front door then headed for her old room.

When Temari walked into her room everything was as she left it, thought there was a fine layer of dust covering everything. She immediately got to work on removing the dust from the floor and mattress. After about 3 hours of cleaning she had cleaned her room of all-possible dust, as well as Gaara and Kankuro's rooms. She had also done 2 loads of laundry before hitting two of the bathrooms, making them clean enough to shower in, which is what she did before finally heading to bed past 12:30. She fell asleep instantly after her head hit the pillow.

All right please review, and yah, I couldn't think of a good last name so it's Kazekage end of discussion!

-Tasha


	3. Chapter 3

Hey readers, sorry it took so long to post this chapter…I had a bit of a crisis and also had to work a lot, then I got sick but whatever, anyways, there was quite a bit of research put into this chapter, for the cars I had to find the perfect cars for this story, and I put in my dream bike the Kawasaki Ninja…I hope to learn how to ride a motorcycle one day and get one because they are just gorgeous!!! And the Evolution Acura is pretty freakin' sweet too…I mean the interior is the bomb…haha, sorry getting carried away…well enjoy!

Chapter 3- Troublesome surprise…

Tick tick tick tick tick tick…

Temari rolled over and looked at the clock on the bedside table.

"Ugh, its four in the morning." She groaned as she rubbed at her eyes. "Shit, I barely slept last night" she yawned, "Oh well nothing I can do about it."

Temari swung her legs over the side of her bed as she pulled back her covers. She slowly got up and walked over to the door where she proceeded to open it. She checked the halls and listened for sound as she walked to the bathroom. It appeared she was the only one awake.

'Figures' she thought as she shut the bathroom door upon entry.

Temari had made sure that the night before she had put all of her toiletries inside the bathroom. She turned on the water to the shower then stripped down and hopped in. A sigh escaped from her rosy lips as she let the hot water dissolved the knots in her tense back from her night of restless sleep. She lathered up her hair with her peach scented shampoo, then let the water wash it away. Suds flowed down her long sandy coloured hair and down her slim body, onto the shower floor and down the drain never to be seen again.

After what seemed to be fifteen minutes she finally decided to get out and begin the day. Dressing herself in a pair of caprice khakis and a tight green T-shirt she headed down the hall and into her room, where she brushed through her hair and proceeded to put it up in four ponytails. After applying a bit of eyeliner and lip-gloss she slipped on her shoes and made her way downstairs and into the kitchen.

Temari stopped in the doorway and let out a sigh. The kitchen was still a mess, somewhat worse because of her brothers' unclean habits. Temari began cleaning the kitchen and readying it for the breakfast she would prepare. Pretty soon the whole kitchen was spotless and organized, satisfied with her work she began to mix some ingredients for muffins together in a large bowl. Temari walked to the fridge and looked inside; pulling out a box of fresh blueberries she let out a sigh of relief. Blueberry muffins were always her favourite kind of muffin. She washed the blueberries then added them to the batter.

After she had put the muffins in the oven she set out to the garage to check what vehicles were left to them.

Temari entered the garage and turned on the light letting out a gasp. In front of her were two vehicles, one a red Volvo AUDI A4 1999, and the other a blue NSX Evolution Acura.

'I remember the Volvo but where did the Evolution come from?' Temari thought in surprise.

As she approached the surprisingly new vehicle, she noticed that the doors were unlocked so she climbed inside. The interior was smooth black leather rimed in blue. Temari gripped the steering wheel as she checked out the entire interior. Her eyes finally found a small envelope in the passenger seat, which fully grabbed her attention as she picked it up and began opening it. Inside were a set of keys and a letter.

_Dear Miss Temari, Mr. Kankuro, and Mr. Gaara Kazekage,_

_This is a gift from the bank of Osaka, the NSX Evolution Acura. We are pleased to still be serving for the Kazekage family and wish that you accept this small token of our appreciation for the loyal years to the bank. We hope that it is to your taste and wish you and your family luck in your new life._

_Sincerely,_

_Osaka bank officials_

Temari just stared at the letter for a moment, and then noticed a small arrow in the bottom corner of the page. She flipped over the paper to see small writing on the back.

_Temari Kazekage,_

_I am an old personal friend of your fathers; if you or your brothers ever need any help with anything, please feel free to contact me._

_Yours truly,_

_Jirocho Wasabi_

Temari put the paper back in the envelope in which she found it and slipped it into her pocket.

'That's interesting. I'm going to test it out!' she thought with an evil grin as she put the key in the ignition and started her up.

Temari let out a sigh, "She sounds so beautiful," she said as she slowly began to back out of the garage and onto the street. Switching gears she began moving forward down the street. Temari rolled the windows down and let the cool breeze waken her fully as it whipped through her hair.

About 15 minutes later Temari was driving back up her street remembering that the muffins would be about done.

As Temari pulled into her driveway she noticed a truck outside her house that was defiantly not there when she left. Putting the car into park and turning it off she got out and went to investigate.

Temari approached the vehicle, taking note of the logo slapped over a picture of a deer.

_Quick delivery…_

_Anytime, anything!_

Temari stopped to think, 'What would be coming here at this hour?'

"Are you Kazekage?"

Temari jumped and whirled around only to be met by a boy about her age wearing a black bandana.

"Uh, um, y-yah" she responded in surprise.

The boy was very lean under his white muscle shirt, which clung to him just right, and showed off his muscular arms. He was wearing jeans that were slightly ripped at the knees, and skater shoes. He had glossy black hair just visible underneath his bandana and the most startling brown eyes. Temari couldn't help but stare.

"Sheesh, women, always so damn troublesome" he stated turning away from her and heading towards the back of the truck.

Temari snapped out of her little daydream at his words then followed.

"What did you just say?"

"Tsh, so now you can't hear?" he said with his back turned opening the back of the truck.

Temari didn't know what was wrong with the guy, but he was starting to make her mad.

"I can hear just fine thanks. I just don't know why you said what you said," she said to his back as he pulled out a ramp from the truck and put it into place.

"Women are troublesome!" he said slowly. " You are a woman and you are troublesome. I am obviously delivering something to you and I find it trou-ble-some!" he sounded out the last part as he walked up the ramp and into the back of the truck.

Temari followed after him. "I don't even know what your delivering or who its from, damn it! And you're calling me troublesome? You don't even know me" she started to get loud.

The guy turned and handed her a letter.

"This came with it," he said as she took the paper from his hand. He leaned against the wall of the truck as she began to open the letter.

_Temari,_

_I sent you your bike and thank you for the parting gift, its lovely. I will cherish it always. See you at Christmas dear; tell your brothers that I love them._

_Grandmother Chiyo_

Temari looked up at the guy who just pointed over to something covered with a white sheet. She stuffed the letter back into his hand, startling him, and headed to the object. She ripped the sheet off and gave a little squeal at the site of her bike.

"That's a Kawasaki Ninja, isn't it?"

Temari looked up to see the boys face full of surprise. She just gave him a smirk in response as she climbed on and pulled out a key from her pocket. She started the bike up and revved it a bit.

"You might want to move" she called to the boy with a smile on her lips. He just jumped out the exit. Not a second later she came racing out the back and down the ramp and driving it into the driveway before coming to a stop.

As Temari climbed off the bike she looked back to see the boy now packing up the ramp. She slowly made her way back towards him as he shut the door and began to lock it. She stopped just beside him.

"What's your name?" she asked him softly.

He finished locking the door and made his way around to the right side of the vehicle, completely ignoring her.

Temari grabbed his arm, "I asked you a question!"

He just turned and glared, pulling slightly on his arm trying to break away from her intense grip. He glared at her and she just tightened her grip, obviously not ready to give up.

He shut his eyes then gave a big sigh. "Women are so troublesome."

Temari just glared at him as he opened his eyes to lazily stare back at her.

"Shikamaru" was all he said.

Temari loosened her grip and smirked at him. "Now that wasn't so hard was it? Thank-you Shikamaru. Heh, troublesome men."

Shikamaru gave a small smirk before pulling his arm away from her. "Shouldn't you be in the kitchen?"

Temari got mad at that remark and was about to punch him when she smelt it. Realization sunk in.

"The muffins!" she screeched as she darted for the house, but not before taking one last look at the troublesome man in front of her house, in whom shook his head as he turned for his truck.

After about ten frantic minutes in the kitchen, in which she was running around opening windows and pulling burnt muffins out of the oven, she sat at the table banana in hand as she slowly ate in peace.

By this time it was about six and school didn't start for another two hours.

Temari looked around the kitchen; it was a complete mess all over again. Temari dropped her head down on the table with a loud 'thud'.

"That didn't sound good," said a soft sounding deep voice from the doorway.

Temari looked up to see Gaara staring at her with slight curiosity on his nearly expressionless face.

"Gaara? What are you up so early for?" Temari asked with obvious confusion.

"Couldn't sleep, I was up since three reading a book. Came down because I smelt something burning" he said in a monotone voice.

Temari sunk deep into her chair at his last words.

"I got distracted and burnt muffins."

"How about I make breakfast and you clean up the mess," he said as he walked to the fridge and began pulling out random items.

Pretty soon Gaara and Temari were sitting at the table sipping at coffee and waiting for the food to cook. Gaara had prepared pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

When the food was done Kankuro lazily stumbled into the room and plopped himself down in one of the unoccupied chair. There had already been a plate of food sitting ready for him thanks to the expectant Gaara.

Temari noticed how much their relationship had changed, it made her feel good that she no longer had to worry about them hurting one another, well more like Kankuro hurting Gaara. They had both grown up fine and she was happy that she was there to witness the event.

"Oh, guess what?" Temari interrupted the silence.

Both brothers looked up from their plates to show they were paying attention before turning back to their food.

"We were given a new car" she began happily, "the bank that papa used gave us a brand new blue NSX Evolution Acura. It was a gift for our families years of devotion." She pulled out the letter and put it on the table for her brothers to read.

Gaara quickly snatched up the letter and began reading it with a surprise evident on his usually calm features. Kankuro, who was still in shock from the news, accepted the letter being handed to him by Gaara.

"Wow!" was the only response that Temari received.

"Do either of you have your licence?" she asked.

"Gaara has his beginners and I have mine. What about you?" Kankuro responded.

"I have had mine for maybe three years now. I can drive cars but it's not my specialty." Temari finished with a sheepish grin.

"What do you mean?" Kankuro asked, obviously confused.

"I did a lot of desert racing back in Egypt. I saved up and bought a sport bike, which grandmother Chiyo shipped off and it arrived here today."

"Seriously? Well, never expected that of you." Kankuro laughed.

Temari looked at the clock on the wall. "Hey school starts in an hour so hurry and go get ready, okay?" she said as she ran from the room and up the stairs to make sure she had everything.

About forty-five minutes later Temari ran down the stairs with her bag and guitar and headed for the garage where she met her brothers. Temari drove them to school in their new Evolution Acura.

After about a fifteen-minute drive they had arrived at school where they were greeted with an empty schoolyard, they were late.

The three siblings made their way to the office where they were greeted with a timid looking woman behind a desk.

"Good morning, I am Shizune. May I help you?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Yes, you can help us. We are the Kazekage's, the new transfer students." Temari spoke up.

"Oh yes, we've been expecting you" Shizune got up and walked through a door labelled 'Vice Principal'. A moment later she came out followed by a tall, big breasted, blonde woman.

"Hey! I am your vice! Names Tsunade," she held out her hand and shook each of theirs, holding a big grin on her features. "Shizune if you please?"

Shizune stepped forward holding some papers. She passed them out according to whom they belonged to.

"These are your schedules. Don't worry about your uniforms today, if you come back at the end of the day they will be here waiting for you. In your homeroom classes there is assigned student to show each of you around, seeing as this is the biggest school in Osaka and I am sure you will all get lost." She said with a laugh, "Homeroom started about 15 minutes ago, Shizune will show you the way. Oh, and before I forget, welcome to Konoha High." With that said she went back to her office and closed the door.

"This way please" Shizune said quietly.

Shizune, one by one, took them to their homeroom class and introduced them each to the person who would be their guide. First was Gaara, whose escort was a boy a bit older then himself with black hair and cold eyes; his name was Sasuke Uchiha. Next was Kankuro whose escort was a plump boy; his name was Chouji Akimichi. Last was Temari. As she followed Shizune she noticed that she was being led up to the third floor, away from where her brothers were.

"Temari, because you are an exceptionally intelligent student we have taken the liberty to put you into the advanced classes, which are all located on the top floor for your grade." Shizune told her.

That cleared up the question that started to form in her head.

"Here it is. Your homeroom teachers name is Asuma Sarutobi." Shizune knocked on the door once then opened it. "Come here please." Temari didn't see in whom she was talking to, but was about to find out.

Out stepped a guy, tall and lean, this time dressed in a white shirt, with a deep green tie and black pants. His hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and he wore glasses.

Temari's mouth fell open in shock.

"This is your student escort, Shikamaru Nara. If you need any help with anything just ask him. Have a good day Temari and don't forget to report back to the office at the end of the day for your uniform, okay?" with that Shizune left, unknown of the two shocked students, in which she just left, standing in silence.

Hey, ok so well that's another chapter down and I don't even know how many more to go…hehe. Bye for now yall!

-Tasha


	4. Chapter 4

Temari just watched Shizune's retreating figure as she rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

"If I knew the new student was going to be a woman I wouldn't have agreed to be the guide" mumbled Shikamaru from beside her.

"What's your problem? So what if I am a female?" Temari asked turning to face him anger rising.

"Didn't I tell you earlier? Women are troublesome, all they seem to do is complain about how they aren't pretty enough and they're all bitchy. There are more important things in life then the way you look. Women just piss me off."

Temari stepped closer to him, to show she was serious. "You piss me off with this 'I hate women' crap you keep dealing out. I guarantee I am unlike any female you have ever met." Temari made sure to say the last sentence slowly so that he would get the picture.

Shikamaru stood his ground and stared right back into her eyes. "I doubt that's true."

Temari was slightly taken back. 'His eyes, just now, they seemed so sad' she thought as she stared as he turned his back and looked down the hall.

"I am supposed to fill you in before you meet everyone else." He turned back to face her with that lazy express that she had witnessed earlier.

Temari only nodded.

"Everyone that your about to meet are the same people in all of your classes. It may not be a big class, but that's only because of the advanced level in which we work. You will have quite a bit of catching up to do seeing as it's already October. Any questions so far?" he asked as he looked back at her lazily.

Temari looked at her schedule "We all take music class together?"

Shikamaru yawned. "Yah."

"What instrument do you play?" Temari eagerly asked.

Shikamaru leaned against the wall, "The violin, and I guess there's no need to ask you since its obvious with the guitar strapped to your back."

Temari just smiled, "Okay."

Shikamaru raised a brow, and Temari just chuckled at him.

"Let's get to class" Temari said as she walked passed him still smiling.

Shikamaru just sighed as he walked ahead of her and through the door into the classroom.

Upon entry Temari couldn't help but notice the room go silent and the attention suddenly be entirely fixed upon her.

A man stepped forward and reached out a hand to shake hers.

"Name's Asuma Sarutobi, home room teacher. Just call me Asuma" He said with a warm smile.

Asuma was a tall, muscular man with a well groomed beard. He appeared to be more suited for the military rather than a high school teacher.

Asuma reached out and shook her hand.

'His hands are so rough but so gentle' Temari noted to herself.

"You can take the empty seat next to Shikamaru."

"Thank-you" Temari said as she looked around to locate the missing Shikamaru and seated herself at the vacant desk to his left.

The morning passed in a flash; get up follow Shikamaru from class to class.

After home room she entered a very cold room with a pasty male teacher. It was Biology with Orochimaru. She had noticed that most people winced when he spoke, in his low crackly voice, as they took notes for the test scheduled for next week.

Next was History with Hayate Gekko. Gekko seemed to be very tired and sick, but when he got onto a topic he enjoyed it just made history that much more interesting.

"Don't forget, test on Thursday, next week." Gekko said through another fit of coughs.

Bring-ing

Shikamaru was beside Temari's desk in a flash. As she continued to pack up her belongings he began to speak.

"Hey, woman, you're on your own for lunch, I have to go to work before next class"

Before Temari could respond he was gone. She just sighed as she got up and walked down the stairs and out a side door she found.

Temari had to squint from the bright light to see the school yard. It was massive. A huge field with millions of wild flowers, a few benches and giant water fountain in the centre. There were trees and bushes here and there of all different kinds.

Temari took a deep breath, 'The air is so pure and refreshing.'

It was simply breath-taking but something was off; there were no people in the picture. With such a stunningly magical place one would think it would be crawling with people, yet she was the only one.

Shrugging it off, Temari spotted a huge oak tree atop a nearby hill and proceeded to make her way over. She seated herself at the base of the tree and pulled out her disk man and began listening to music as she looked around the yard. Pretty soon she gave into temptations and pulled out her guitar and began to play and sing.

_I think I'm drowning  
Asphyxiated  
I wanna break this spell  
That you've created_

You're something beautiful  
A contradiction  
I wanna play the game  
I want the friction

You will be the death of me  
You will be the death of me

Bury it  
I won't let you bury it  
I won't let you smother it  
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out  
Our time is running out  
You can't push it underground  
You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom  
Bound and restricted  
I tried to give you up  
But I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped sense of elation  
You'd never dream of  
Breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

Bury it  
I won't let you bury it  
I won't let you smother it  
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out  
Our time is running out  
You can't push it underground  
You can't stop it screaming out  
How did it come to this?  
Oh

You will suck the life out of me

Bury it  
I won't let you bury it  
I won't let you smother it  
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out  
Our time is running out  
You can't push it underground  
You can't stop it screaming out  
How did it come to this?  
Oh

As she finished singing a large gust of wind blew about her face, and she began to play the song Lullaby by Vienna Teng and humming to it.

'I want to go out later, but not to the mall to many people.' Temari thought as she stopped her playing and leaned her head back against the tree closing her eyes.

The leaves rustled in the tree above as the wind played tag with the near by bumble bees.

'Maybe I'll just check out the town, re-familiarize myself, so to speak.' She let out a small laugh at her own light hearted joke. 'I can work on the make-up assignments on the weekend. There did not seem to be very many things that I had to get caught up on, and I was told if I had any question to just ask Shikamaru. I wonder what his problem is!' She opened her eyes and began to play a random tune that she smiled at. 'I wonder why he hates women so much. He doesn't seem to be into guys.'

"That's a nice song"

Temari jumped at the sudden sound and began looking around for the source that had interrupted her but could not locate it.

"I'm up here" laughed the surprisingly soothing male voice.

Temari looked up to see one of her classmates sitting on a branch only 8 feet above where she sat.

"You're in my class, aren't you?" she asked putting down her instrument and bringing her knees to her chest.

He jumped gracefully from the tree to land in front of her where he sat cross-legged facing her. "My name is Neji" he said smirking at her slightly startled face.

"Temari" she said with a smile holding out her hand.

As they shook hands she took in his appearance. He had long glossy brown hair that reached down to his waist. His long slender face was graced with silvery blue eyes, which captivated her as she continued to stare for a few moments longer then what would be considered polite.

Suddenly her gaze broke away when he began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

"Do my eyes surprise you?" he asked leaning back on his hands, causing his shirt to tighten over his torso giving Temari a better look at his muscular body.

"Oh, sorry, it's just where I came from nobody had blue eyes. In fact you're the second person I have ever met with blue eyes, but even so it's the first time I have seen eyes that colour before. Your eyes are so beautiful" she confessed with a smile.

Neji just laughed, "You know you're the second person to have said that to me."

"Really who was the first?"

Neji's face began to glow; "Tenten, she's my girlfriend" he smiled. "Actually she was supposed to meet me here but she is a bit late" he frowned a little at the last part.

Temari peered over his shoulder and smiled with a distant smile on her face.

"What was her name again?" she asked with a wide smile.

Neji looked bewildered, "Tente-Ahh!"

Tenten tackled Neji.

Tenten and Temari buckled over from laughing to hard. Saying something barely audible sounding like 'You should have seen your face' as Neji just glared playfully at the two before joining in on the laughing fit.

"I take it that this is Tenten?" Temari asked after she caught her breath.

"Yah, this crazy, beautiful woman is Tenten" he said as Tenten seated herself next to him knees folded be neither her with a smile upon her face.

Tenten had her silky, brown hair pulled into two tight buns upon her head. She was wearing what Temari now knew as their school uniform, which consisted of a white button up dress shirt with short sleeves, a red tie and a red skirt that reached about 2 inches above her knee caps.

"So where did you move from?" Tenten asked.

"Giza, Egypt."

"Why did you move here?" She asked.

"It was time to come home. I used to live here but had to leave for a while. Now I live with my two brothers" Temari said with a smile that clearly showed that she didn't want to say anymore on the subject.

"Oh" Tenten said clearly not knowing what to say.

"How do you like it here so far?" Neji asked suddenly.

"Interesting and weird." She said twisting her face up in an expression that confused the both of them.

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Neji.

"When I feel like I am finally getting the hang of being around other Shikamaru opens up his mouth and says things that confuse me and make me get upset. I don't get that guy! What's his problem?" Temari asked getting worked up.

Tenten just laughed at her, "Don't worry about Shikamaru. He is a pretty good guy once you get past the sexist comments that pop out of his mouth. He keeps to himself a lot."

"Not really" Neji began, surprising Tenten, "Shikamaru isn't that social because he works so much. He is a very independent guy and doesn't like to rely on others. His dad owns a big delivery company while his mom is a star chef and owns a four star restaurant up town. He's actually quite serious about getting what he wants by himself, he would never ask for help from anyone. It's just the way he's been since grade 10."

"What happened in grade 10?" Temari asked really curious as to what happened.

"Nothing happened."

The three teens jumped at the sound of Shikamaru's voice as he suddenly appeared from behind the tree, lazy expression fixed upon his face yet again.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing here? I thought you had to run to work?" Temari asked surprised as she stood up to face him.

Shikamaru yawned as he leaned against the tree, "I'm done, and plus class starts in four minutes. I have to still show you around, it's troublesome but I'm your guide after all."

"Uh, yah, your right" She responded looking at her feet.

The four made there way back to the school and to their next class.

The afternoon went by fast. After Temari got to skip gym, with Might Gai, because lack of proper clothing, she spent most of that class doing the work she had to get done from her previous classes. Next was Music with Genma Shiranui. They didn't get to actually play their instruments that day because it was a movie day. After noticing Shikamaru fall asleep during the movie she pulled out her disk man and began listening to music.

At the end of the day Shikamaru escorted her to the office where she met up with her two brothers and their guides. Gaara still looked the same, undisturbed, but he kept an oddly large distance between himself and the Uchiha kid. Kankuro and his guide Chouji were a bit late to arrive. Temari noticed Shikamaru grow rigid next to her when they entered.

An older man walked into the office.

"I am principal Sarutobi" he said as he shook each of their hands. "I believe that your uniforms are ready" he said turning to Shizune who stood ready and waiting just behind him.

"Yes Sir, they're right here." She said as she quickly handed him three packages.

"Basically wear the uniforms proudly, and make our school proud. You may wear any kind of shoes, and there are also coats that are given out during winter that go along with the uniforms. I trust you will enjoy this school as much as I do" he said happily to the three siblings. "Your all dismissed."

Shikamaru dashed from the office and out of sight before anyone could even move.

Temari just thought he was acting weird and shrugged it off as she headed to the car with her brothers. On the ride home they each discussed roughly the amount of homework they each had and which classes they were each taking.

Temari sat in her room staring at the window debating on whether she should go out or start on her homework. In the end she decided to take her bike for a ride around town.

As she made her way down the stairs she saw Kankuro and told him she was going out. She made it to the garage and picked up her helmet as she finished pulling on her jacket, and put it on. Sitting on her bike she pulled out her key and started to rev the engine, she smiled at the familiar sound, and took off down the drive way and out of site down the road. She darted around town for what seemed like hours, looking for something to amuse her. She drove past four malls, a park and several side stores, but didn't seem to find a reason to stop. Temari, giving up, decided to head home.

'Man isn't there any place in this damn town that's even the least bit interesting?' She thought as she stopped at a red light. Looking around she realised that she had no clue where she was, she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going, then suddenly something caught her eye. It was the sign to what seemed to be a book store.

_Returning Home_

All right people I know I took a long time, and I know that this chapter isn't that long but I have to leave for my flight in about 4 hours and I need some sleep and still have to pack, well maybe there will be no sleep. Oh, um, actually there was some kind of secret that I wanted to reveal in this chapter but I didn't get as much written as I had planned, and for that I am sorry. Thank you for being faithful to this story, I know it's actually a boring bad kind of chapter but I promise the next one will be better, thought you will have to wait. Again I am sorry.

-tasha


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter is for you jimu. I am really sorry for the delay, I will try harder next time. Thank-you for all the support.

Chapter 5- The book and the fan

The smell of old paper hit Temari's nose as she entered the book store. Taking in the atmosphere she began a slow and steady pace up the isles filled with books, letting her eyes wander over every book in site. Placing a finger on a book she let it slide from book spine to book spine as she made her way into the heart of the store where she spotted a woman hunched over a counter with her back facing Temari, apparently unaware of her presence. Temari soon made that pass-tense as she tripped over a box that she was unaware of and fell to the floor with a crash.

The woman screeched and whipped around in surprise.

"Sorry!" Temari said smiling sheepishly from the floor.

"Think nothing of it" said the woman slowly.

Temari looked up to find the woman gawking at her as if she was staring at a ghost.

"Are you all right?" Temari asked feeling uncomfortable.

"Um, y-yah, you, uh, just look like someone I used to know" the woman responded sounding exasperated as she took a step closer to Temari.

"Um, ok" she said defiantly feeling frightened by this woman. "Is that a bad thing?" she hesitated.

Pain filled the woman's face at Temari's question.

"She died over 10 years ago."

"I'm so sorry" Temari said, feeling the pain as she remembered her parents' devastating fates.

"Please, don't feel bad for me, you just startled me is all. Although I still miss her I'm not that sad because she helped me in so many ways, even after death." The lady said smiling.

"What do you mean, if you don't mind me asking?" Temari asked, confused at the woman's words.

The woman chuckled at Temari's expression. "After she died she left me something in her will. It was a book she had written called 'Returning Home', an-"

"Wait!" Temari interrupted, "isn't that the name of your store?"

The woman laughed again. "Yah, I was so inspired by the book that I went out and had it published for her and opened a book store, naming it after her novel."

"Do you have a copy of the book?" Temari asked.

"Yah, sure I'll get you a copy." She said with a big smile. "By the way my name is Tsubaki."

Temari laughed, "Nice to meet you." They shook hands before Temari followed Tsubaki down an isle and up a flight of stairs, bringing them to the most spaciously breathtaking room Temari ever saw.

"Did you design this room yourself?" she asked mouth wide open.

The walls were painted with fairytale creatures, knights and princesses, aquatic and jungle animals. They were all so life like; it looked as though they were carved into the walls instead of painted. On a far wall were surreal paintings that seemed to captivate the mind in a way that was completely unbelievable. The room itself seemed to tell its own story. The room was quite large and in the centre was a small circular bookshelf filled with books, bean bag chairs and large pillows of every colour surrounded it. The carpet was the colour of fresh green grass. A computer was placed in a far back corner. The atmosphere was so calm and unreal.

"I wish I could have done this. Actually, a very special young man did this. He is a huge fan of her as well." Tsubaki said as she handed Temari a book.

Her eyes widened at the cover. It was a picture of her grandmother's home in Egypt. Temari quickly read the authors name. Slowly the book slipped from her hands and she slid to the floor as tears came to her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked sounding startled.

"That book, it was written by my mother. That's my mother's name!" she declared.

Tsubaki's eyes widened, "Are you sure?"

Temari nodded her head, "That's the house my mother grew up in, my grandmother's place. I lived there for the past 8 years."

"You're Temari, aren't you?" Tsubaki asked stunned.

Temari looked up at Tsubaki. "How…"

"I met you before, when you were quite small, you and Kankuro."

"I don't remember."

Tsubaki seated herself in front of Temari. "You were still very young, the both of you. Before your youngest brother, Gaara was ever thought of, was the last time I saw you."

"How did you know about Gaara then?"

Tsubaki laughed, "You'll have to read the book first."

Temari smiled and agreed. "It is getting pretty late, I suppose I should head home now."

"Tomorrow after you done school, will you come back, there's someone I would like you to meet and something I would like to discuss with you. Is that all right?" Tsubaki asked helping Temari up off the floor.

Temari smiled, "Right after school I'll be here."

Temari took her time riding through the crisp fall air of twilight. She couldn't wait to get home and start reading the book, but something, well rather someone, kept invading her thoughts through all the surprises of the day; Shikamaru, and she couldn't quite understand why.

_Knock-Knock-Knock_

Temari jumped from the noise.

"Come in" she called from her bed where she had been reading.

Gaara walked in, hair slightly wet, while eating an apple.

"It's almost time to leave."

"Leave? Leave where?" Temari asked thoroughly confused with Gaara's words.

Gaara raised an invisible brow as if to say 'Are-you-seriously-asking-me-that'. "School starts in an hour Tem-"

"What! Are you serious?" Temari shouted as she grabbed her things and headed to the bathroom to shower.

She turned on the tap and jumped into the shower and began to lather up her body, going through just what had happened to all the time. 'I was reading all night. That book is so amazing. I only have 2 chapters left to go.' Temari let out a squeal of excitement before turning off the water and continuing to get ready for school.

As she pulled on her uniform she decided she would ride her bike to school and have Kankuro drive Gaara and himself to school, seeing as she had an appointment with an old friend after school.

Ten minutes later Temari came racing down the stairs carrying her bag and helmet.

"Kankuro," Temari shouted out as she entered the kitchen.

"Yah?" he said from the next room.

"Can you come 'ere please?" she asked sweetly as she picked up a blueberry muffin.

Kankuro entered the kitchen a few moments later with a cookie in his mouth.

"Can you drive Gaara and yourself to school today; I have an appointment after school so I'm taking my bike."

"Sorry, can't."

"What? Why not?" she demanded.

"Don't have my license."

Temari just blinked. "Are you serious?"

He gave a small chuckle, "Well, Gaara was the one who usually drove." Kankuro placed a hand behind his head in embarrassment at his proclamation.

Temari stood speechless for a few moments. As Gaara walked in Temari turned her stare to him instead.

Gaara not noticing Temari began to feel uneasy as he helped himself to a glass of milk. Awkwardly, he turned to find Temari a few inches behind him gawking at him as if he had grown an extra nose or two.

Gaara cocked that invisible brow at his seemingly insane older sister. "Can I help you?" he asked partially concerned at what he may have walked into.

"You can drive?" Temari asked sounding completely amazed.

Taking a look over at Kankuro, who was seemingly annoyed with Temari, realization hit. Gaara stifled a laugh as he made his way over to the jar of cookies on the counter. Finally, he turned back to his sister and folded his arms.

"Yes, I can drive. What is your reasoning behind the question?"

"Oh." Temari was now less tense, and decided to go and sit down with her food. "Just didn't expect you to have you licence before Kankuro. Do you mind driving Kankuro and yourself to school?"

Gaara shrugged. "I guess I don't mind, but we're listening to my music this time."

"Aww, shit!" Kankuro muttered, suddenly joining the conversation from which he had been absent. "Never mind, I'm riding my bike for exercise today." And with that Kankuro left through the garage door book bag trailing behind him.

Gaara gave an evil grin as if to say 'Ha-I-Win' then made his leave from the kitchen the opposite direction his brother had.

Temari blinked at her brothers' little charade. "Smart kid" she chuckled after a few moments.

Soon after, wearing her crisp new uniform and black boots, she set off for school. She had everything she needed for the day in her backpack. She had to tuck in her knees while driving to keep from her skirt flying up and exposing her unmentionables. The last thing she needed was for that to happen.

As she pulled into the parking lot of the school, she noticed that very same van that pulled up in front of her house the prior day was in-fact sitting in the parking lot of her school. She parked her bike beside the van as the first bell rang.

"Shit!" she cursed as she got off her bike, removed her helmet and ran to her locker to put said helmet away. She cursed when she realized she was one of the last people in the halls. She quickly sprinted to her homeroom class, upon entry the late bell rang.

"Just made it," Tenten declared as Temari took her seat.

Temari looked over to see Tenten seated beside her.

Temari smiled. "Oh, hey Tenten. What's up?"

Tenten ignored Temari's little greeting in favour of her own topic at hand.

"You look so hott in your uniform. You'll have no trouble getting a guy looking like that. You might even have to beat them off of you." Tenten giggled at Temari's sudden ruby face.

"Um, thanks." Temari said quietly.

You see, Temari was normally loud and boisterous, but she was never good at boys, make-up and the usual girly type stuff. She was shy when it came to that stuff. In Egypt her grandmother raised her with music and mechanics as her best friend. Every time she had a crush, or socially encountered any guy she was remotely attracted to, her nerves kicked in and she became mechanic 101. In the end most males would think of her as weird and abnormal. After she got into desert racing she was friends with many males and her shyness dissipated. She became the unrivalled desert racer and was very popular, but not in the way where she had guys hanging off of her, in a way where she had great friends without the uncomfortable silence.

"Tenten you're embarrassing her"

Temari jumped in surprise at the sound of Neji's voice. She looked over and saw Neji seated behind Tenten.

"Sorry Neji, I didn't even notice you were sitting there!" Temari laughed.

Neji and Tenten laughed as well.

Temari turned to see Shikamaru seated behind her. "Hi, Shikamaru" she greeted.

He nodded lazily at her.

Just then Asuma stood up and began his little morning speech.

Temari took this time to pull out 'Returning Home' and began reading through the announcements, unknown to her of the curious eyes upon her.

The morning passed by pretty quick. In English with Kakashi, they were instructed to read a book by the end of October and write an essay debating on anything from said book, supporting your point with various facts throughout the book. The paper had to be minimum 4000 words. Being the beginning of the month it gave everybody a month to write the paper.

In Auto Technology with Ibiki, in building 2, Temari surprised everyone with her outstanding knowledge on various parts of vehicles. They were assigned a partner project in that class, in which she somehow got paired up with Shikamaru. They were all to design and demonstrate their knowledge of any vehicle of their choice.

It was lunch and as Temari had expected, Shikamaru ran off to his job.

"Temari, want to join us for lunch?"

Temari looked up to find Tenten and Neji waiting for her a few feet away.

"Sure" she replied picking up her bag.

Temari followed Neji and Tenten outside and back to the spot under the oak tree where she first got acquainted with the two.

As lunch went on, the three prattled on about everything; music, shopping, food, nature, school, sports, animals, their future, jobs, and books: everything that is until the bell rang signalling the end of lunch.

"Damn, lunch is over already?" Tenten said as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"Yah, but isn't there only one class left?" Temari asked, as she waited for the two to gather up their belongings.

"Yes there is," Neji said as they started to walk back to the school.

"That's right, and its math!" Tenten chirped happily.

Neji and Temari laughed.

Tenten turned, "What? I love math" she exclaimed to the two.

Temari had to smile, "Yah, I also enjoy math."

"Then lets hurry before we're late" Neji said as he took Tenten's hand and began to run.

Temari had to laugh at the dumbfounded look on Tenten's face as she was being towed by a blushing Neji.

'Cute' Temari thought before running after them.

They reached their class before the late bell. As they took their seats, the teacher stood up at the front of the class waiting for the noise to die down.

"All right, since I am feeling particularity lazy today, I will be assigning work sheets for all of you, while I read a book. Does that meet with everyone's approval?" He looked around the room. "Where's Nara?

Temari looked around, to realize that it was true; Shikamaru was in-fact not present.

The teacher shrugged, then began passing out the worksheets. When he reached Temari he paused for a moment, as if thinking. "I am Aoba Yamashiro." He leaned in close to her. "Do you enjoy math?" he asked slowly, putting emphasis on 'enjoy', it was almost if he were, nah, he couldn't be.

'It almost sounds like he's threatening me' Temari thought. She cocked an eyebrow at him, "Yah, why?" she asked slowly.

He stood up right and began to laugh hysterically.

Confused Temari looked over to see Neji rolling his eyes.

Aoba stopped laughing and looked her dead strait in the eyes, obviously serious. "Because, no one may enter this class unless they love math as much as me. Right Tenten?" he said glancing at the laughing girl.

"Right!" she chirped.

He finished passing out the worksheets when a knock came to the door.

"Enter", Aoba said as he made his way to the front of the class.

Shikamaru opened the door. He was perspiration profusely, and his face was slightly red.

"Damn Nara! What happened to you?" Aoba asked him, features twisted.

"My van broke down 2 miles away from here. I had to run to try and make it here on time." He said as he plopped down in his chair next to Temari.

Temari grabbed the unopened bottle of water from her bag and offered it to him. He gave her a quick 'thanks' before guzzling down the whole bottle.

"Well even though you're late by 10 minutes, I will excuse it. Now tell me, do you love math?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, then glared at Aoba, who stood rocking on the balls of his feel smiling.

Sighing, he responded lazily "Yes, I love math."

"See Temari, everybody in this class loves math."

Temari gave him a sceptic look as he gave Shikamaru his work.

Temari looked over at Shikamaru who was rubbing his temples.

'Does he have a headache? Maybe he's getting sick. God, I barely know him but he intrigues me. I really want to know more about him.'

Just then Shikamaru looked over at Temari, slightly surprised that she was watching him.

Temari turned away trying to hide the rising blush. She could hear Tenten giggling behind her.

Temari did all her math and was one of the first to pass it in. Shikamaru was the other person to finish at the same time.

"Aww, I was hoping it would take you longer this time" Aoba said to Shikamaru, pouting slightly. "Good job there Temari, I'm actually quite surprised you finished at the same time Shikamaru did. He is one of the few students I have that never takes home his work, he's usually finished before class is out."

Temari gave a sheepish smile.

"You both can leave early, there's only 20 minutes left of class anyway."

Temari went and grabbed her bag and waved a good-bye to Neji and Tenten before following after Shikamaru.

They walked in silence to their lockers, which were in the same hall. Temari grabbed her guitar from her spacious locker and followed Shikamaru outside to sit under the oak tree. Shikamaru laid himself down in the grass under the shade of the tree and watched the clouds lazily.

Temari watched him for a moment. 'He reminds me of that song.' She thought. "Um, let's see…" she mumbled to herself as she began to stroke a few cords. "Got it!" she proclaimed silently.

As she listened to the notes she played she became consumed and began to sing, no longer caring that Shikamaru would hear.

I'm sitting here in the boring room  
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon  
I'm wasting my time  
I got nothing to do  
I'm hanging around  
I'm waiting for you  
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I'm driving around in my car  
I'm driving too fast  
I'm driving too far  
I'd like to change my point of view  
I feel so lonely  
I'm waiting for you  
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I wonder how  
I wonder why  
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky  
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree  
I'm turning my head up and down  
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around  
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree

I'm sitting here  
I miss the power  
I'd like to go out taking a shower  
But there's a heavy cloud inside my head  
I feel so tired  
Put myself into bed  
Well, nothing ever happens and I wonder

Isolation is not good for me  
Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree

I'm steppin' around in the desert of joy  
Baby anyhow I'll get another toy  
And everything will happen and you wonder

I wonder how  
I wonder why  
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky  
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree  
I'm turning my head up and down  
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around  
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree  
And I wonder, wonder

I wonder how  
I wonder why  
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky  
And all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can see  
Is just a yellow lemon-tree

Temari finished the song then began to laugh as she fell back into the grass. That song always made her happy.

"'Lemon Tree' by Fool's Garden, its one of my favourite songs."

Temari looked over to see Shikamaru watching her, still lying lazily in the grass.

Temari blushed slightly looking up at the sky. "Mine too." she replied with out looking at at him.

Shikamaru, unbeknownst to Temari, smirked.

"Hey, don't you have to go to work after school?" she asked changing the subject.

"Yah, I already told my boss from my first job that his dumb ass van broke down on me. He told me to take the bus to my second job, though I'll probably be a little late." He let out a sigh, "It's so troublesome."

Just then the bell rang.

Temari jumped up, "Its study period now right?" She asked Shikamaru quickly.

"Yah, why?" he asked confused.

"I promised I would help Ibiki for a bit then I am supposed to go see Genma about some sort of tryouts." She said quickly as she began to leave.

Shikamaru blinked at her retreating form, and then smiled.

Temari helped Ibiki with a few mistakes he had made during throughout his lesson plan. After she was finished helping him, she rushed to the music room to see Genma.

She knocked once upon the door only to have it opened a few seconds later by Genma.

"Please come in so we may begin."

Temari followed him into the room.

"All right, I need you to look over this piece, and I will give you a few days to practice it before you audition." He handed her some sheets.

She looked over the sheets quickly, and then smiled. "Can I do it now?" she asked politely.

Before Genma could respond, Temari had already began playing her guitar and started to sing.

_You change the sound of my name  
A moment of truth that I saw in your face  
It hurts inside, a moment this vile  
That you brought alive  
All the roads lead back to you_

Give me something to return to  
In your heart  
I fear nothing but to leave here  
Without you for life  
We were left in this world for each other  
But I can't run from the fate  
I've been fighting for so long

(You made me who I am)

You made me who I am  
Until the dawn of time  
I have walked alone  
You tie up a storm  
When all hope was lost  
But time revolves  
I have to let go  
One never meant to be

Give me something to return to  
In your heart  
I fear nothing but to leave here  
Without you for life  
We were left in this world for each other  
But I can't run from the fate  
I've been fighting for so long

Genma stood there with shock plastered on his face.

After recomposing himself, Genma called to the door "You may come in now."

The door swung open slowly to reveal a lazy Shikamaru.

"I believe we have found who will be doing the duet with you for the contest." Genma said smiling. "I expect you both to be here every day 2 during study hall so that you may practice this piece together."

Temari stood there with shock evident of her face. "Wait! I didn't know what kind of audition this was." She stated getting flustered.

"Doing this will basically guarantee an 'A' in this class. Will you do it or not?" he asked quickly.

Temari let out a sigh of defeat. "Yah, sure."

The bell rang just then.

"Good. Both of you may leave now."

As Temari and Shikamaru went to home room again, she went over the benefits of the situation. 'I get a good grade. It'll be great to put on my transcripts and applications to universities. I love music, and I get to find out more about him.' Temari snuck a glance at Shikamaru.

"Temari!"

Temari looked up to see Tenten running towards her smiling.

Temari smiled back.

"Hey, where were you?" Tenten asked a little annoyed.

"I had to help Ibiki with some things and I went to see Genma about some tryouts." She said with a slight apologetic look on her face.

"Did you get picked for the duet?" she asked excitedly.

Temari glanced at Shikamaru then nodded to Tenten.

"Yay!" she squealed.

"Can't wait to see your guys' performance," said Neji who had seemed to finally catch up to Tenten. "You'll do great."

Temari just laughed, "I hope so."

As they went to home room Tenten continuously prattled on.

When home room was over Temari said a 'fare well' to her friends before going to her locker. She put away her guitar then pulled out her helmet. With her back pack secured on her back she made her way down to the parking lot. Once there she noticed her brothers and waved to them.

When she got on her bike she started it with ease then kicked off and raced out of the parking lot. She was just about to round a corner when she noticed a certain pony tailed figure. She came to a stop when she neared him.

"Hey, Shikamaru," she called removing her helmet.

Shikamaru turned to see Temari about 10 feet away from where he stood. "What?" he asked her sounding rather annoyed?

She just smiled back. "Need a ride?" she tossed him an extra helmet that she retrieved from the compartment behind the seat.

Shikamaru caught the helmet with ease, but hesitated looking her up and down.

"Look" she said, "I know for some strange reason you have women, but aren't you gonna be late for work?"

He quickly put the helmet on and hopped on behind Temari who had already fastened her own helmet.

"Shikamaru?"

"Yah?"

"Hold on!" she warned with a smile.

Shikamaru scoffed as he nervously placed his hands on her sides.

Temari kicked off once more; as she sped off she could feel Shikamaru's grip tighten to the point where he was now embracing her with a death grip from behind. It seemed like he expected he was going to die any moment.

Temari couldn't help but laugh at his actions.

She hunched over and sped up, exceeding the legal speed limit, but wasn't going fast enough to be qualified as racing.

"Where do you work?" Temari called over her shoulder.

"A book store on Oak Street," he replied.

"The book store 'Returning Home'?" she asked surprised.

"Yah, why do you know it?"

"I had plans to go there after school today," she said as she did a quick turn onto Oak Street. She slowed and came to a halt in front of the store.

"You're a scary driver" Shikamaru said from behind her, prying himself away form her.

Temari laughed. "If you think that's wildly scary, you should have seen me in Egypt." She said putting away both helmets and walked inside.

"Hey!" Tsubaki greeted obviously waiting for them. She came to a stop in front of the two, with a slight confused expression on her face. "Did you come together?"

"Yah, he needed a lift after his van broke down around lunch time. He's such a baby when it comes to my driving."

Shikamaru glared at her and Temari smiled at him in response, and gave a small laugh.

"Well, I guess I don't really need to introduce you to each other, since you seem to be well acquainted already." Tsubaki said with a sly smile.

They both gave her a look of confusion.

"Shikamaru this is the daughter of the author who wrote the book 'Returning Home'. Temari this is your mother's number one fan. He became completely inspired by her book. He is the person I wanted you to meet, and the artist of the room upstairs." She said with a wide smile on her face.

Temari and Shikamaru looked at each other in utter shock. Their expressions seemed to say the same thing 'Your-Effin-Kidding-Right?!"

"Any who, Temari I was hoping that you'd like to work here." Tsubaki said voice full of hope.

"Well, I do need a job-" Temari was cut off.

"Great! Well, Shikamaru will teach you everything you need to know, I on the other hand have an appointment. See yah and good luck!"

Before either could say a word she was gone.

He peoplei am sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up but after my little vacation in November to see my boyfriend and best friend, Christmas and work snuck up and bit me on the ass. I barly had time to myself and had a hard time trying to write this chapter, but after Christmas was over everything pilled into my head and I was super excited to write this chapter. As usual, if there is anything you don't or do like about my story please tell me, pick it apart if you'd like, I thoroughly encourage it. I am off to get the rest of my ideas out for the next chapter. Thanks!

From tasha


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor wish to own, any of the Naruto characters on account that I would not know what to do with them to make it as popular as it is right now. I also do not own Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel, though it is gorgeous and I do wish to go there some day to view it first hand.

Chapter 6- Working

"So what do I need to know?" Temari asked nervously turning to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Right, well first we have to make sure books are in their right spots; yah know, organize and whatnot. It actually gets busy during the day, but not so much at night."

"Oh, all right. Where should I start?"

"Over here," Shikamaru said walking over to an isle on the left side of the entrance. "In the cooking section."

Temari began to eye him, oddly suspicious of the section he sent her to.

"I'm going to start at the other side of the store." He said, lazily carrying himself in the opposite direction.

"Wait." She said, "Are you trying to imply something?" she asked suspiciously.

He gave her a questioning look as he turned back to her.

"You put me in the cooking kitchen isle, while you're off to," she stomped over to the last isle, 'Of course!' "Auto mechanics!" She growled accusingly.

Shikamaru just smirked.

Temari glared back.

"Fine!" Shikamaru said giving up. "You take 'mechanics' and I'll do 'cooking'. Sheesh! Women!" He turned and walked past her.

"No!" she said jumping in his path. "Just to prove how different I really am, we'll do it together." She firmly grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him back over to mechanics. She quickly got to work not wanting to waste any time. Shikamaru just stared at her curiously before starting as well.

They finished going through all the shelves in almost complete silence. There was always Shikamaru's unpleasant mumbling at Temari's attempts to break the silence with simple questions.

"What is your problem?" Temari asked getting annoyed with Shikamaru's cold distant attitude and the way he avoided her questions with unpleasant grunts. "Why do you hate me so much?" She asked him as they finished tidying the isles.

"Why do you always have to talk and get so emotional?" he countered.

"Emotional?" She screamed. "That's a stupid question."

"How?" he asked turning to her seemingly annoyed.

"Of course I'm emotional! You should know from reading the book that my mother was killed in a hit and run incident while taking my little brother to school." Temari clenched her fists and went on screaming at him. "My father was shot and killed a few years after her death and while I was in Egypt separated from my two brothers for the past eight years I come back here to find out that my uncle beat my youngest brother senseless for most of that time. Plus, I just found out yesterday that my mother wrote a book and that the all mighty Shikamaru is her biggest fan and it made me feel, it-it made me feel like there was something, someone I could finally talk to. It made me feel good!" She shouted. The moments passed and she slowly calmed down though she dared not look up at Shikamaru. "Sorry." She finally said before walking out of the isle and up the stairs to the second floor.

Shikamaru just stood there, alone and quiet, watching the spot where Temari was just occupying.

When Temari reached the second floor she searched around the spacious room for a washroom. Once she located it she locked herself in there for a good twenty minutes catching her breath, not being able to figure out why she yelled at him. _She felt bad._ After gathering up her courage she decided to go and apologize to Shikamaru.

Temari came out of the washroom only to find Shikamaru sitting in one of the bean bag chairs reading a book. Temari slowly made her way over to him.

"Sorry, about earlier. I had no right to snap at you." She said as she sat across from him.

He slowly looked up from his book. With signs of discomfort he replied "Um, I'm sorry too. I kind of say things that I shouldn't sometimes." He began to fidget with the pages of his book as he looked away from her gaze, waiting for an acknowledgement of his apology. As the moment ticked by Shikamaru became impatient and finally looked up at Temari only to find her attention diverted to the walls of the spacious room.

"What's wrong?"

Temari quickly glanced at him to show she had acknowledged his question. "How long did it take you?"

Shikamaru closed his book. "Roughly six months."

Temari gawked at him. "Wow. That's really impressive."

Shikamaru got up and began to walk. "Is it? That's interesting."

"How so?"

"Its only six months. Really not that long considering the calibre of my work. Now if you look at, lets say, the Sistine Chapel's ceiling in Rome, which took Michelangelo about four years to complete, if you ask me that's what's really amazing." He said smiling at a part of his work in which he stopped in front of.

"It really took him that long?" Temari asked suddenly beside him.

Shikamaru chuckled, "Yah, and his work is simply amazing. The mastermind behind those brush strokes created such unbelievable life."

Temari leaned forward and looked at him in the face. "Well, I still think you're an incredible artist." She turned to the wall in front of them. "This part right here" she pointed to a part of the wall that held a masked female in a gorgeous flowing white gown that was stained in mud and slightly torn at the bottom hem. She seemed to be fighting death, in a field surrounded by trees and ravenous beasts; she stood in the centre in a fighting stance, no weapons. "The brush strokes that you used captivate me. They seem to be different from the others. It's as if you put more emotion into this painting then the rest. This is my favourite part of this room. Its, in simple terms, breathtaking." She said touching the folds of the painted dress with and outstretched finger.

"It's not complete."

Temari turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"She doesn't have a face," he whispered.

"Is there a story behind this painting? I mean" she paused, "it seems almost personal compared to the others." She said slowly.

"I'll tell you about it downstairs. Okay?" he said as he began to walk to the stairwell.

"I completely forgot we were still open." She said in a panicked squeal before rushing after him.

"Don't worry I put up the 'back in 15 minutes' sign." Shikamaru said over his shoulder heading for the front doors.

As he unlocked the doors and removed the sign from the window, Temari waited patiently by the front desk, following him with her eyes.

"Well, that's really all there is to this job. When new books come in put them on the shelves, tidy the isles, play cashier for the customers," he said motioning his hands as he walked back over to her.

Temari just gave a small laugh. "Seems dead in here, so, does that mean you'll tell me now?" she asked him with a smile.

He just gave a nervous laugh. "Only if you don't laugh. Deal?" he asked her seriously.

Temari nodded.

Shikamaru motions for her to sit and she did, on the stool behind the counter, as he leaned on the outside of the counter facing her.

Shikamaru sighed. "The girl in my painting represents me. And, no, that does not mean I want to be a woman, it is a female because" he paused "because of my so called hatred for women, which isn't in fact true. Anyways, the woman in the painting is fighting for her life in the world and there were beasts surrounding her. The beasts represent the things that have happened and probably will happen; my hardships that I've had to overcome. Her dress is muddy and ripped to show that she was damaged along the way, but" Shikamaru gave a small forced laugh, "it's not finished."

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru's head snapped up at the sound of Temari's voice. "Hmm?"

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, is one of these hardships have to do with the boy in the office the other day?" she asked slowly while watching him curiously.

Shikamaru seemed taken back. "You noticed did you?" Temari nodded once again. Shikamaru gave a crocked smile. "I fell in love a few years back with a girl named Ino. She was everything to me, she basically owned my heart. After about a year of dating she suddenly dumped me saying she was in love with Chouji, my, uh, best friend since childhood. The next day they both wouldn't even look at me. I was crushed, not only by the woman I loved but my best friend as well. After that things seemed to get worse for me. My mother died trying to give birth only days after the incident." Temari gasped. "It was a still-birth." He finished.

"Oh my god" Temari whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Shikamaru looked down at his hands.

"Yours sounds just as bad as mine. After my mother was killed in a hit and run incident while walking Gaara, my youngest brother, to daycare, my father was barely h9ome with us. I had to take care of Gaara because my brother Kankuro, who is actually my twin, blamed Gaara for my mother death. He would always try and hurt Gaara. My father was shot by some confused guy. He was on his way home from Egypt and was about to climb into his car after leaving the airport. My father left a will that stated that I be split up from my brothers, they were to live with my aunt and uncle while I went to live with my grandmother in Egypt." Temari took a deep breath. "I was taught everything about vehicles, racing and music from my grandmother, while my brother Gaara had top fend off my psycho uncle who beat him regularly. Kankuro didn't know anything about the beatings until one night a few years back he came home to blood up and down the halls and a nearly dead Gaara lying motionless on his bedroom floor."

Shikamaru just starred at her for a moment in shock. "Holy shit."

"Yah I know." Temari said as she rested her elbows on her knees and slouched over.

They sat in silence for what seemed to be forever, until…

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looked up at Temari "Hmm?"

"What did you mean when you said your painting was not finished?" She asked starring at him in full confusion.

"Oh, that." He responded as he walked around the counter he had been leaning on instead to sit on the adjacent stool from Temari. "Her face" he paused, "I put a mask over her face because I don't know what to paint. I tried many times but it never did look right. I just" sigh "never got the right inspiration." He finished leaning back.

Temari gave an airy laugh causing Shikamaru to look at her once again with a quizzical look.

Temari gave him a genuine smile. "I know you'll get the right inspiration to finish it."

Shikamaru looked away with a slight blush. "Uh, thanks."

"So when does this place close anyway?" she asked looking around.

Shikamaru turned to look at a far clock on the wall behind him. "Its just about seven now and we close at seven and clean until about eight, depending on how long it takes us."

"So we just sweep and dust and what not?"

"Yup" Shikamaru said as he got up and walked to the door. "You don't mind if we close a bit early do you?"

"Um, no, I guess not." Temari said getting up and following after him.

Shikamaru put up a 'closed' sign on the door then locked it. He walked to the right of the door to a window that displayed several books, reaching up he pulled down a metal fence in front of the display and behind the window. Temari walked to the left window and found the metal fence wall and reached up on her tip toes attempting to grab it. She was to short. As Temari stood on her tip toes trying to reach the fence Shikamaru finished locking the other into place and turned to find Temari, who was right about now jumping up and down in attempts to reach the fence. Shikamaru smiled at Temari's attempts then walked up behind her and reached up and gave the metal fence a small tug.

Temari gave a small gasp then turned her head to see Shikamaru just behind her. Blushing she stepped to the side slightly to let him finish. 'He's tall. I never noticed.'

"I think you may be just a bit short for this." He said smiling at her as he locked in the fence.

"I think you might be right," she responded turning away from him. "But next time I'll do it."

Shikamaru smiled and gave a small laugh, "Okay."

Temari gave him a playful glare.

"We had these installed a few years back. Actually, it was just after I began painting upstairs. I was here real late, night after night and some guy decided to break in, but I came down stairs and fought with him a bit. He really wasn't that great of a burglar." Shikamaru laughed at this.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was personally scared but came down anyways to see some guy trying to open the cash register with a pen. I asked him what he thought he was doing" Shikamaru chuckled. "I scared the crap out of him and he pulled out a knife, which led me to ask him why he wasn't using the knife to open the cash register. He was stumped. I took that time to let him try then went up behind him and pushed the back of his knee caps causing him to collapse. I struggled to pin him to the ground, having to punch him a few times, then did the sleeper on him. While he was out for the little bit of time I tied him up then sat on his back and called the police and waited for them to come. All the while going through the things he did wrong. And the funnies part is that the cash register box was in the safe the whole time" Shikamaru said laughing as Temari followed suit.

"Are you serious?!" Temari asked with tears in her eyes as she clutched her stomach, which was now in pain from the intense laughter.

Shikamaru nodded vigorously in response, not daring to attempt to speak.

Temari, who was trying her hardest not to laugh too hard, did something that caught Shikamaru by surprise. She snorted, and loud I might add.

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked holing his stomach that began to ache as he whole heartedly laughed at her.

Well, if anyone were to walk by at this pinot they would probably arch an eyebrow at the two teens unexpectedly hunched over shaking.

Temari laughed because Shikamaru laughed at Temari's constant snorting. This went on for a good five minutes before both were so out of breath that they just had to stop. They had slipped to the floor somewhere in the process.

"I have never heard anybody snort before." Shikamaru commented taking in air like it was going out of style.

"I was trying hard not to do it. It's embarrassing." She said as a light blush came to her cheeks.

"It's cute." Shikamaru stated quietly.

"Th-thanks," she stuttered as her blush deepened.

A subtle silence filled the room as the two continuously lied on the floor breathing in and out.

It steadily grew darker and darker outside.

"Hey, it's getting pretty dark out, "Temari commented as she looked over to the front window.

"We've been closed for almost half an hour now," Shikamaru said tilting his head to look at the clock hanging on the wall, reading 7:26 pm. "We should just do a quick sweep and put the cash register in the safe."

Shikamaru sat up and looked at Temari who followed suit then got to her feet. Shikamaru went to push himself up as well but lost balance landing on his behind with and "Oof!"

Temari laughed and stretched out a hand. "Need some help?"

Shikamaru took her hand and let her pull him up, but, because Shikamaru underestimated Temari's strength, he was surprised when with just a jerk of her hand he shot up and their foreheads collided.

"Oww!" They both leaned over holding their heads with one hand.

"Sorry." They said at the same time, then caught each others eye and began to laugh.

After their laughing fit once again died away they got to work on sweeping up the store and soon were ready to lock up for the night.

"You ready?" Shikamaru asked grabbing his bag from the upstairs room and walking up to Temari, who was yet again staring intensely at his painting.

"I have a question for you," she warned.

Shikamaru leaned on the nearby wall and folded his arms lazily. "Go ahead."

"If you a painter with incredible talent, what's up with the duet?" she asked placing a hand on her hip while the other slacked at her side as she shifted most of her weight to one foot.

Shikamaru yawned. "The duet is because according to Genma I am the best male singer he's heard in years. Also, if we win" he began a little more seriously, "it will look amazing on my application for university." Shikamaru gave a quick laugh, "and because I enjoy it."

"You don't seem like the type to care about that kind of stuff." Temari eyed him.

Shikamaru smirked at this, "Then what 'type' do I seem like?"

"You, well, you seem like the lazy ass, care free type, not the serious, smart ass that cares about his future. At times you seem so lazy that it's as if you don't care about anything, plus with your sexist comments it makes you seem spiteful and angry, basically a real dick head. Then there's the times you seem more real and kind of let loose." She explained looking at him.

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow at this. "Let loose?" he questioned.

Temari gave a small laugh at the confusion in his voice. "Yah 'let loose', you seem to break out of the act. You act carefree and lazy when in reality you care about a lot of stuff, such as university, art, music, other people and I know that this 'I hate women' thing is just an act."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Shikamaru raised his hands defensively in front of him. "What's with this crazy analysis of me? We've only known each other for two days. Listen, if you're going to be paying this much attention to me then wait a bit longer before you give me some crazy report about myself." Shikamaru smirked as Temari's face was slowly consumed by red.

"I-I was _not _paying attention to you! I-I was just, well, I was…" sigh "fine. So what? To tell you the truth you-you intrigue me!" Temari finished, feeling flustered.

It was Shikamaru's turn to blush. He quickly turned away and headed for the stairs. "Come on Temari." He said not looking at her.

Temari who had barely seen his blush smiled at his retreating figure. 'He actually said my name.' She thought as she followed after him.

She followed Shikamaru to the front door where he unlocked it and opened it for her. He walked over to a nearby wall punched in a code in the alarm systems panel, then walked out the front door locking it behind him.

Temari was already at her bike getting out the helmets.

She passed Shikamaru one when he got close enough, then proceeded to secure her own helmet. They both got on and Temari started her up and kicked off.

Shikamaru clung to Temari's small frame at once as she sped off into the autumn night.

"So, where do I drop you off?" Temari called over her shoulder as she did a sharp turn causing Shikamaru's death grip to tighten.

"Um, it's usually a 10 minute drive from work but I think you could make it in 2."

Temari laughed.

"Do you know where Doe Rd. is?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yah, I passed that street the other day. I'm pretty sure I can find my way back. Is that the street you live on?"

"Yah."

"All right."

Temari let out a sigh of satisfaction from the refreshing night air that blew about her body. Now, Temari was absolutely sure of two things that she had going through her mind, one being that she was pinching her thighs in to keep her skirt from flying up and the other being a warm muscular chest pressed against her back with equally muscular arms wrapped around her middle. She couldn't help but smile as his hold on her would tighten with each turn.

They turned down another street and Temari saw the sign for Doe Rd. She turned down it only to realize second later that where the houses should be was consumed by trees. Soon the only light there was came from her bike and the moon.

"Slow down," Shikamaru instructed. Temari did so.

Within a few moments they came to a clearing with a huge house in the centre.

"Is this you house?" Temari asked in awe.

"Yah."

Temari came to a stop by the front entrance; now that she was closer she could see it was more like a mansion.

Shikamaru climbed off the bike and removed his helmet handing it to Temari.

"Thanks for the ride." Shikamaru grinned at her.

"Anytime," she laughed as she put the helmet in the seat compartment.

"I'll have to think about it," Shikamaru chuckled.

Temari smiled at Shikamaru. "Um, thanks for tonight, I had fun with you. I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow." Temari said with a slight blush then kicked off and sped back the way she came.

Shikamaru smiled as he watched her till she was completely gone before turning to go inside.

Hey readers. I realize that it takes me a while to update each chapter and for that I am sorry. I will be getting started right away on the next chapter. I realize that this chapter probably isn't that good and I would have put in more shikatem goodness but I figured that hey they have only known each other for about 2 days and I should give it a bit longer before anything serious happens between them, so for now they will just have fun getting to know each other. Please tell me if there are any mistakes or if you don't like anything about my story or do, just give Tasha some feed back. Thank you for reading and may the peace be with you and your families.

tashicutz


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters from Naruto. Nor do I own the songs.

Hey guys, sorry about taking so damn long with this chapter. A lot has happened to me in the past 9 months that's made me not want to write. Don't worry, I won't be boring you with it anytime soon, I just wanted to apologize to those of you who have waited for this chapter. I am trying to make it one hell of a long chapter to hopefully make up for my lack of writing. Please let me know what you think, whether it is good or bad, I accept anything from anyone. This chapter goes out to all of you who have waited for me to update. I have also posted on my YouTube account a playlist with all the songs I use in my stories. It's for you.

Enjoy!

-tasha

Returning Home chapter 7

You Sound Angelic, It Captivates Me

_Time Skip from chapter 6. Chapter 6 was on a Wednesday and it is now the second Saturday after then._

Its hard to believe how much had happened in the past few weeks. It seems like an eternity ago that she had arrived home finding two strong men instead of her two younger brothers.

-Flashback-

"Temariii!" whined Kankuro as Temari handed him a paintbrush and bucket of paint.

"Don't start Kankuro. The house needs to be fixed up! I already sprayed the house down. Did you see all of the dirt that ran off?" Temari asked hotly whilst pointing at the now clean exterior of their home.

"But why do I have to paint the house? It doesn't look like it needs to be painted to me." Kankuro pouted.

Temari cocked an eyebrow as she peaked at their house. There it stood in all its glory, paint peeling on nearly every surface, chunks of wood missing from the porch railings and window shutters missing. The house looked positively haunting.

"Kankuro you're going to see the optometrist on Monday. Now, _please_… paint the house, but don't forget to scrape the old paint off first. Gaara has already started on the back of the house so stop complaining," she turned and headed for the garage.

"Well then what will you be doing?" Kankuro shot at her frustrated with having to do physical labour.

"I, my lazy brother, will be raking the autumn leaves, moving the grass back and front, watering the flowers, trimming the shrubbery, painting the doors, cleaning up the garage and preparing lasagna for supper. Then after supper I have to take a look at the Volvo and possible give it an oil change, then I have to do more cleaning inside and then finally get some homework done." Temari explained casually over her shoulder as she disappeared into the garage.

-End Flashback-

Temari turned up the radio as she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. As 'Forgotten Children' by Tokio Hotel played on the radio Temari thought about a certain guy who had been haunting her thoughts for sometime now.

She had spent a lot of her time with Shikamaru these days. She had a better opinion of him and thoroughly enjoyed his company.

Looking over at the clock on her desk Temari blew out. 'He should be here soon.' She noted to herself, as she closed her eyes.

Tomorrow was the day of the music competition which they would perform their duet, and Shikamaru was to meet her at her home so they could rehearse once more.

The song suddenly changed on the radio to a song that had Temari itching to sing along with. It was 'Alive' by DA BUZZ and it had Temari up dancing and singing around the room.

_This is the feeling of my life  
I wanna be with you now  
I wanna have you with me  
Always forever and you  
You will be one for me now  
And I can see that  
Mow mow mow mow_

You came through the door  
You came through it all  
One step further and  
I will lose it all  
Everything you said  
Everything was so right

I was in your eyes  
You were in my mind  
When you took my hand  
And we start to dance  
I just can't believe  
That it's you and me now

I'm alive  
For the first time in my life  
I just know that I'm alive  
I wanna dance the night away  
I'm alive  
I'll always be there by your side  
I just know that I'm alive  
This is the feeling of my life  
I'm alive

You're reality  
You're my fantasy  
I just can't believe  
This is happening  
Crossed my fingers and  
I can see that is true

I was in your eyes  
You were in my mind  
When you took my hand  
And we start to dance  
I just can't believe  
That it's you and me now

I'm alive  
For the first time in my life  
I just know that I'm alive  
I wanna dance the night away  
I'm alive  
I'll always be there by your side  
I just know that I'm alive  
This is the feeling of my life  
I'm alive  


Unbeknownst to Temari her guest had arrived and was watching her interpretive performance from the doorway.

_(This is the feeling of my life  
I wanna be with you now  
I wanna have you with me)_

I'm alive

(You will be one for me now  
And I can see that  
Mow mow mow mow)

For the first time in my life  
I know that I'm in love  
I wanna dance the night away  
I'm alive

And I want to  
'cause I need you  
I just got to be beside you  
For you really make my dreams come true

I'm alive  
For the first time in my life  
I just know that I'm alive  
I wanna dance the night away  
I'm alive  
I'll always be there by your side  
I just know that I'm alive  
This is the feeling of my life  
I'm alive 

Temari spun on the last note and that's when she noticed him. Temari lost balance, fell over and hitting her back on her desk caused a metal picture frame to fall and crack her in the head.

Temari sucked in a breath as her face scrunched up in pain, hands holding her throbbing head.

Suddenly laughing could be heard. Temari looked top the door to find Shikamaru doubled over holding onto the door frame for support and with what appeared to be tears streaming down his face.

Shikamaru's laughs finally subsided and he looked up at her where she now sat cross-legged on the floor watching him.

"Are you all right?" Shikamaru chuckled while wiping the tears from his face.

"Yah, I'm fine you ass." Temari said getting up. "You could have said something instead of just standing there. How long were you here for anyhow?"

"I was here long enough to watch your whole performance and I did try and announce my presents but you didn't hear me." Temari blushed. Shikamaru just laughed as he walked over to her bed and sat down.

This was not the first time he had been in Temari's room. When he first ventured into her room it had been completely by accident on his part.

-Flashback-

"Hey Kankuro!" Temari called outside the kitchen window facing the driveway.

Kankuro, who had just come back from a run, was now hitting the tree on the left side of the driveway. Gaara and himself had set it up so that the tree had a thick padding wrapped around the trunk so that they could practice their kicking and punching.

"Yah?" Kankuro asked between kicks that shook the tree's branches.

"I'm going to take a shower, so if Shikamaru comes by entertain him."

"Yah" Kankuro punched.

About 10 minutes later Shikamaru rode up on his bicycle and parked beside Kankuro, who was now doing push-ups as Gaara was now having his turn at the make-shift punching bag.

"Hey, Temari around?" Shikamaru asked walking up to the brothers.

"Yah…just go inside. She's expecting you. Second floor, third door on the left." Kankuro groaned out. "One-hundred forty-eight. One-hundred forty-nine."

Shikamaru muttered a 'thanks' before he headed into the house and proceeded up the giant staircase.

Shikamaru stared in wonder at the museum-like quality of the Kazekage home. There was more room then what was led on from the outside appearance.

As Shikamaru reached the second floor he was graced with the scent of fresh peaches. His stomach became uneasy as he pushed open the third door on the left and found a rather large room.

'Temari', he thought as he looked around at the girls' room. Deep purple walls, large bed with a red satin comforter, an oak desk with a laptop, dresser, and side table. There was a large bookshelf that was right beside the desk, and to top it all off there were photographs everywhere.

As Shikamaru inspected the pictures more closely he noticed that Temari was in just about every picture, with many other people, either they were playing instruments, racing their bikes or fixing vehicles. The picture that caught his attention the most was of Temari with an older woman giving the peace sign. Temari's hair pulled back into her usual four ponytails, grease on her face, and a mechanics one piece suit half way on. It seemed to stop at her waist with a black tank underneath.

Shikamaru couldn't help but smile. 'She's really something.'

Suddenly Shikamaru heard a gasp from behind him and turned to find a shocked Temari covered by a small towel.

Both of their faces turned tomato red.

Shikamaru couldn't help but stare as Temari finally reacted as she did a high pitch shriek and fled the room.

Shikamaru just smirked.

-End Flashback-

Afterwards Shikamaru had to explain why he was up stairs. Let me tell you Kankuro got an earful by an extremely pissed off Temari. In his defence he simply stated "You told me to entertain him" which he received a punch to the head.

It was a very memorable moment for the both of them.

Shikamaru blushed at the memory of seeing Temari practically naked. He had been having many dreams of her since and he was having many restless nights of sleep.

"Shikamaru, are you ready?" Temari asked standing up.

"Uh, yah. So where do we practice?" He asked getting up.

"Right here," Temari said casually as she went to her closet and began pulling out microphones, a recorder and amps with all the wires trailing behind her.

Temari proceeded to plug the recorder into her laptop as she set everything up for her and Shikamaru's practice.

"I will be recording our duet. If you don't mind that is," Temari stated as she quickly turned to Shikamaru when she was done setting up.

"Uh, sure, but won't it be loud with the amps and microphones?" He asked walking over to Temari who was leaning over her laptop, opening programs and setting them up.

"My room is sound proof, and I'm going to have the equipments volume at a lower setting so we don't kill our eardrums," Temari stated as she raced across the room and shut her door.

Shikamaru just stood there in awe as Temari raced around doing a few more adjustments, such as Mic checks and what not.

"Ready?" Temari asked as they both stood with microphones in hand.

Shikamaru just nodded his head, and then the music began playing.

_You change the sound of my name _

_A moment of truth that I saw in your face _

_It hurts inside, I'm one with this fire _

_That you brought to life _

_All the roads lead back to you _

_Give me something to return to _

_In your heart _

_I fear nothing but to leave here _

_Without you for life _

_We were left in this world for each other _

_But I can't run from the fate _

_I've been fighting for so long _

_You made me who I am _

_Until the dawn of time I have... _

_...walked alone _

_You tied up a storm _

_When all hope was lost _

_But time revolves _

_I have to let go _

_What never meant to be _

They stared into each others eyes as they sang and unbeknownst to either of them they slowly got closer and closer.

_Give me something to return to in your heart _

_I fear nothing but to leave here _

_Without you for life _

_We were left in this world for each other _

_But I can't run from the fate I've been fighting for so long _

_Give me something to return to in your heart _

_I fear nothing but to leave here _

_Without you for life _

_Give me something to return to in your heart _

_I fear nothing but to leave here _

_Without you for life _

_We were left in this world for each other _

_But I can't run from the fate I've been fighting for so long _

_We were left in this world for each other _

_I can't run from the fate I've been fighting for so long_

(A/N- 'kay so you will not know who sings what part unless you go and find the song and listen to it. I will put it up when they sing the duet.)

They were just inches apart when they sang the last line, never breaking eye contact.

Slowly their faces grew closer, eyes becoming heavy. An inch, 2 centimeters, millimeters, until Shikamaru's lips lightly brushed Temari's.

"Temari," said a voice from the door.

The two teens jumped apart with faces as red as ripe tomatoes.

Gaara stood in the doorway; arms folded, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"Sorry to interrupt but I'm done with your book." He said with his normal emotionless voice as he walked in handing her a very large hardcover book.

"Um, no problem. Oh, uh, I have another book that you should read." Temari walked around Shikamaru and headed to her nightstand. She proceeded to pull out a copy of 'Retuning Home'.

Gaara accepted it and left but not before he quickly thanked Temari.

"What is that big book in your hand?" Shikamaru asked still slightly red in the face.

"Oh, just a book on world history. Gaara enjoys history and wanted to read the copy I had." Temari said walking to her shelf and putting the book away.

Shikamaru, who had now recovered, raised a brow eyeing the thick book as Temari sat in her computer chair. "Have you read it? He asked intrigued.

"Yes, of course. Why else would I have it?" She stated.

Shikamaru just shrugged as he walked over and examined the rather large collection of books, most of them being autobiographies, history books, science, art, mechanics, nature, and astrology.

"Hey, Temari?" Temari turned at the sound of Shikamaru's voice.

"Have you read all of these books?"

"Yah, why?" Temari asked as she turned back to her computer where she was getting ready to play back their song.

"Just an interesting choice of books," he said as he crouched down in front of the shelf and pulled out a book on Egyptian history, as he scanned through it.

"What do you mean by that?" Temari asked turning her chair to face him.

"Well you're the first female I have ever met with a book collection like this one." He paused and looked up at her. "Ino had romance books galore and fictional books. I think the only book she owned with actual useful knowledge was a dictionary. My mom used to be the same way, but she also had cook books galore." Shikamaru said with a painful smile as he put the history book back and pulled out another but this time on astrology.

Temari, knowing about Shikamaru's mother, was surprised. She knew it was hard for him to talk about his mother. Shikamaru had told Temari that he had never told anybody at school of his lost mother and sibling. Chouji's mother had told the principal's and asked them not to let the children know. Temari was the only one that Shikamaru was able to tell. Chouji and Ino knew because Chouji's mother was at the hospital the night it happened, and they attended the funeral.

"So, what you're saying is that you're surprised that I have knowledgeable books instead of romance books? Is that right?" Temari asked confused.

Shikamaru looked up at her confusion and laughed. "Yah, I guess so, but it also impresses me. The books you read are right along the line of what I basically read."

"Really? That's good." Temari stated turning back to her computer.

"Why?"

"Because it means you have the knowledge to hold an intelligent conversation." Temari chuckled.

Shikamaru just shook his head. "Are we going to listen to our song now, or what?" Shikamaru asked getting up and standing behind Temari where he proceeded to lean forward and rest his chin a top her head.

Temari pressed play and they both froze at what they heard.

They sounded angelic, simply amazing.

When the song came to an end they were both too stunned to say or do anything.

"Wow, that's a really nice song. Did the two of you sing it?"

Temari and Shikamaru turned to the sound of Kankuro's voice and found him sitting on Temari's bed with Gaara beside him.

"Yah, we did sing it. It's the one we have to sing for tomorrow's competition." Temari said smiling.

"You guys will definitely win tomorrow." Kankuro stated with confidence as he punched a fist in the air.

"Will you both be attending?" Shikamaru asked sitting in the middle of the floor cross-legged.

"Yes." Gaara half grunted.

"Gaara is also in the competition, but for the pianist portion. He's a regular Mozart. Really amazing," Temari said getting up and stretching. "Hey Gaara maybe Shikamaru can play along with you sometime. He plays the violin."

Gaara turned his head to Shikamaru and nodded.

"Cool" Shikamaru said also getting up.

"Okay, well I'm hungry!" Kankuro got up and walked to the door. "Last one to the kitchen cooks!" he shouted then took off.

"Let's go then." Temari said as she grabbed Shikamaru's arm and pulled him along as she and Gaara, with Shikamaru in tow, took off in the opposite direction Kankuro went.

Gaara opened the fourth door on the right and took off for the closet. The room was large and appeared to be an unoccupied bedroom. Gaara opened the closet door with Temari and Shikamaru on his heals. They went to the back and pushed old dusty clothes to the side from where they hung on their hangers. Gaara pushed on the wall and it moved, allowing them to pass through. On the other side were what appeared to be poles? Gaara hopped on one of them and slid down.

"You first, I'll explain later!" Temari said in a rush pushing Shikamaru to one of the poles, where he hastily slid down.

It only took a few seconds before he was safely back on the ground with Gaara at his side. Temari came into site as she quickly slid down another pole.

Gaara led them a couple feet away from the poles and pushed on another wall marked with red paint.

Suddenly, after going through the wall, they stood in the pantry. Opening the pantry door they filed into the kitchen and sat down.

A few seconds later Kankuro ran in out of breath, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Oh come on, that's cheating!" He yelled angrily.

Temari laughed. "No its not, you never said we couldn't use the passageways."

"I thought there was only the one on the 3rd floor." He pouted sitting down with the others.

"There are at least nine." Gaara stated getting up and walking to the fridge.

"What are you doing?" Kankuro asked crossing his arms. "And why didn't you tell me? I thought there was only one."

Gaara chuckled. "First off, there is a lot you don't know about this house. You will find out in good time and second, do I look stupid to you?" Gaara asked dangerously. "Do you even remember the last time I let you cook? It tasted like you went dumpster diving and put whatever it was you found on a plate and labeled it food." Gaara finished, pulling out a package of chicken from the fridge and loads of vegetables.

"Was it really that bad?" Temari asked as she and Shikamaru laughed.

Gaara turned, eye twitching. "It tasted like ass and gave me food poisoning. To top it off Kankuro didn't even try it. I was the fucking guinea pig."

"Hey, you said you got over it." Kankuro whined accusingly, pointing his finger at him.

"I lied." Gaara said as he turned back to the food in which he began chopping everything up into tiny pieces. Pulling out a skillet and turning on a burner he began throwing in the chicken and vegetables. Once done, Gaara turned and began preparing rice to go with the stir-fry he was preparing.

"So you have a bunch of secret passageways in your home?" Shikamaru asked turning to Temari.

"Yah, and only Gaara and I know about all of them. We found them when we were smaller. It's really elaborate and so very cool." Temari said getting excited.

"That's really cool. Your home is so big and it's surprising that you have secret passages in here. From outside it doesn't look big enough for the inside." Shikamaru leaned on the table getting really into their conversation. The Kazekage home really interested him.

"That's because of the trees on either side of our home. It's like a mini-forest surrounding us. This place is four stories high and goes really far back into our property. We have a full basement, attic and garage. The back deck faces our two and a half acre backyard. Actually, I'll give you the grand tour before supper." Temari got up and walked over to Gaara where she proceeded to whisper something into his ear.

Gaara turned to her and nodded his head. Temari smiled at her brother then, being shorter then him, reached up on her tiptoes and kissed his head before proceeding to the kitchen door. Shikamaru got up and followed her out of the room.

They started in the foyer where the coats hung and shoes were taken off. Putting their shoes on, they headed out the front door into the crisp autumn night.

Temari took a deep breath and stretched her limbs feeling the autumn breeze ruffle her hair about her face.

"All right, let's begin. I know your interested in my home, and let me be the first to tell you, your not the first to be interested, but you are the first to non-Kazekage to see this house the way your about to." Temari said full of pride, as Shikamaru drew more curious. Temari smiled, then grabbing his hand pulled him towards the garage.

Once inside Shikamaru was shown Temari's pride and joy once more, her Kawasaki Ninja. Next were the family cars, the red Volvo AUDI A4 1999 and the blue NSX Evolution Acura. They proceeded out the back door of the garage and came to a field, wild and wondrous with wild flowers and autumn leaves scattered here and there.

Shikamaru gaped at the site. He was beyond amazed as he continued to stare as Temari towed him around. He got to see how far back the home went as they finally reached the deck.

"Okay, I asked Gaara and he said it was all right if I showed you the secret passages. So if you think this is amazing then just wait for the rest, its spectacular." Temari gave Shikamaru a million dollar smile before grabbing his hand once again and lightly pulled him to the opposite side of the house and a little ways into the trees where they approached a small hill. Temari stopped and, still holding Shikamaru's hand, bent over searching the ground with her other hand until she found a small rope and gave it a small tug.

Temari straitened up just as the small hill in front of them began to sink in the middle, revealing a dark hole.

"Ready?" Temari asked squeezing his hand.

All he could do was nod.

Temari approached the hole and pulled Shikamaru into a hug. "We have to jump." She whispered into his shoulder.

Shikamaru quickly wrapped his arms around Temari before they jumped down the hole. Seconds after the fall they landed on a slide and began their descend farther into the darkness.

'I'm gonna shit myself!' thought Shikamaru as he held onto Temari as if his life depended on it, while Temari just laughed.

They reached the bottom and landed in a jumble on the floor. Temari still laughed while Shikamaru waited for his body to stop shaking.

"Haha! Holy shit! Your face, you looked so scared!" Temari couldn't stop laughing.

"I thought we were going to die! You scared the shit out of me!" Shikamaru yelled at the now giggling girl in his lap. Then Shikamaru did the unthinkable. Yes, he tickled Temari.

"Ah! Stop, no, not that!" Temari squealed while snorting as she struggled against Shikamaru's attack. Once he thought she had enough he stopped only to be punched by Temari.

"Ah, what the hell, you punch like a hippo!" Shikamaru groaned rubbing his sore arm.

"What?" Temari laughed. "A hippo? Who says that?"

They both sat laughing for a good five, or so, minutes.

"Come on, we have to get going or we'll miss supper." Temari said as they got up off the floor.

"It's pretty dark down here." Shikamaru stated as he squinted at Temari noticing her groping the wall in front of them. Suddenly there was light.

They were in a corridor with stone walls lined with lights.

"Are these underground tunnels?" Shikamaru asked following Temari down the corridor where it split off into five different directions.

"Gaara had found a book when we were kids about our family history and the history of our house. These used to be the passageways for our ancestors to leave freely as they pleased, without getting caught." Temari led them down one of the branch tunnels and into a large room with old couches and draperies.

"Wow, this place looks so cool. How old is it?" Shikamaru asked as he walked around the room gawking at furniture, old paintings, anything he could get his eyes on.

"It was built in the late 1700s and our house is quite ancient, but there have been many repairs to make sure that it is maintained in working order. My mother worked in a museum and was paid to keep our home in good shape. There used to be tours all the time, until my parents passed away." Temari smiled at him as he turned to look at her, then she continued, "the same museum contacted me and my brothers not long after we moved back in. We are being paid to keep our home in good condition, and there will be a tour once a month starting in December."

"That's really cool." Shikamaru said walking back over to her and taking her arm. "So what's next on the grand tour?"

Temari smiled up at him as they began walking around the room.

"These paintings are all apart of my family history. Either painted by a family member or painted about them and their stories. Some" Temari gestured with her free hand to a painting on the far wall, "dating back as far as the mid-16th century when the Europeans first started arriving in our country." Temari continued walking through the corridors and showing Shikamaru the many rooms her ancestors built; kitchen, library, battle room, guest rooms, each major room equipped with hidden exits.

"Temari looked at her watch. "Shit! Gaara's going to kill us. Come on we're late." Temari grabbed Shikamaru and pulled him towards the last corridor they had yet to go down. The corridor lead to spiral stairs and they began to run up them.

They ran for about 3 minutes being about half way up the stairs when Temari stopped and pushed in a rock painted purple. Another passageway appeared. They ran through and stopped at another wall that Shikamaru recognized. It was painted red, and again they pushed the red wall and were in the pantry.

Walking into the kitchen they saw that Gaara was just placing the food on the table. "We made it!" Temari smiled high-fiving Shikamaru.

"Why did you come out of the pantry?" Kankuro asked suspiciously. Then it dawned on him. "You showed Shikamaru the passageways didn't you?"

Temari grinned sheepishly at her twin.

"You guys won't even show me, yet you showed him?" Kankuro said in disbelief.

"I told you that won't be able to fully appreciate it unless you read up on our family history. You have yet to pick up the book." Gaara said in a monotone voice.

"But that thing is so big." Kankuro exclaimed as he filled his plate.

"Kankuro, we gave you the easy one that's only 200 pages long. You should have seen the one that Gaara and I read." Temari said filling her plate as well. "It was roughly 1800 pages long, separated into three volumes."

"But still why do I have to know about our family history to go into the passageways? Shikamaru should suffer along with me." Kankuro declared stuffing food into his mouth.

"I already did my research on the Kazekage's family tree and home a while ago." Shikamaru piped up.

"What are you talking about?" Kankuro asked mildly confused, with rice stuck to his chin.

"Do you even remember the other book I told you to read? It was called 'Returning Home'?" Temari asked.

Kankuro shrugged giving her the 'What-book-was-this-now-?' face.

Temari sighed. "Do you remember when I came into your room about a week ago and tossed you the white book with the picture on it?" she asked slowly.

"Oh, that one…yeah. What about it?"

"Did you even listen to me when I told you that it was important for you to read?" Temari asked in disbelief.

"Should I have?"

Temari hit her head against the table.

Gaara pulled out the copy Temari had given him earlier and placed it on the table between him and Kankuro.

Kankuro, whose mouth was full, looked at the cover and just stared. After a few moments his mouth dropped open and food fell out.

"Aw gross Kankuro!" Temari complained pushing her empty plate away from her.

Kankuro looked up and quickly swallowed the remaining food in his mouth. "Is…This…Mom wrote this? Our mom?" Kankuro asked stunned.

"Yah she did, and Shikamaru here is a huge fan of her book. He was so taken with it that he researched everything he could find involving mom and her book."

Kankuro scarfed down the rest of his food then shot up out of his chair and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Temari called after his, a look of bewilderment on her features.

"To my room to read," Kankuro shouted back and they heard him bounding up the stairs.

Gaara who was now finished eating said a quick 'goodbye' to Shikamaru before heading upstairs as well, but through the pantry.

Temari quickly washed the dishes as she and Shikamaru made light conversation.

"Well, its 9:00, I should get going." Shikamaru said with a yawn.

"I'll walk you." Temari headed for the front door where she pulled on a light sweater.

They both stepped out into the autumn night and began their walk.

"We're ready for tomorrow, I know it." Temari stated with confidence as she gazed up into the night sky, hands behind her back.

"Are you nervous?" He asked watching her.

"Honestly?" He nodded. "A little nervous…okay, well a lot. I have never sung in front of a large crowd before, and we're being judged, just adding pressure. It's a little…nerve wracking." Temari sighed as she put her hands in her pocket.

"You'll do great. Your voice is really amazing Temari, even when you goof off and sing with the radio." Shikamaru chuckled, smiling down at her.

"Thanks Shikamaru" Temari smiled, blushing. "You're pretty amazing yourself."

Shikamaru blushed as well as a comfortable silence fell over them.

'_I wonder how_

_I wonder why_

_Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky_

_And all that I can see is just a yellow le-'_

Shikamaru fumbled to retrieve his phone from his pocket.

"Hello?" He answered. "Yah, I'm on my way. 'Kay…Bye."

"Was that your dad?" Temari asked watching Shikamaru as they turned onto his street.

"Yah, I have a couple of deliveries to do tonight before I call it a night." Shikamaru sighed putting his hands behind his head.

"Oh, well I can go with you if you like?" Temari offered.

Shikamaru laughed. "Maybe next time, we both need a lot of sleep tonight, but thank-you." He finished sincerely.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hm?"

"What does your father do?" She asked curiously.

"That's right; I never did tell you, did I?" She shook her head. "My dad is a scientist. He's currently experimenting with deer antlers and is cooped up in his lab all day long. He's searching for cures to various poisons, most bringing about positive results. He also runs the family business that my mom started before she passed. You know…the delivery business."

"But wasn't your mother a chef?" Temari asked confused.

Shikamaru chuckled then patted her head, which earned him a glare. "Yes and she also owned the restaurant downtown. She started a delivery business at first just for food but soon changed it to just about anything." He laughed. "I do a lot of the deliveries myself but there are a few others as well. There's a lot to do, but I don't really mind it."

"Seriously, that's really cool. You seem pretty content with it all. Hey, you looking for anymore people?" Temari nudged him in the side playfully. "Gaara's been itching to start work again." Temari laughed.

"I'll talk to my dad; I know we are getting a bit behind so another person would be great."

"What is it that you deliver exactly?" Temari asked intrigued.

"Like I said before, 'just about anything'. I've personally delivered a shark once a few months back. So we deliver food, animals, letters, packages, stationary items, plants, vehicles, lots of stuff." He said at his house came into view.

"Have you ever delivered a person before?" Temari laughed at his exasperated tone.

"No not yet, but it wouldn't surprise me" he laughed.

"I'll drop you off, 'kay?" Shikamaru said as they reached the front porch. "I just gotta go grab my keys."

They walked in through the massive from doors, Temari just stood there gawking as Shikamaru took off.

It was a really nice home. There was a huge spiralling staircase that ran in different directions, marble floors so shiny you could see your reflection, nice white walls with portraits of many people everywhere. The room she stood in seemed to be the size of a ball room, everything being so clean and neat.

"Wow" she whispered, now gazing at the intricate design of the ceiling.

"I'm glad you like it Miss Kazekage."

Temari jumped and turned towards the source of the voice. There stood a tall man with black hair pulled into a tight ponytail atop his head, a black neatly trimmed beard and scars gracing his handsome features. He was dressed in a simple black shirt and jeans.

"Are you Shikamaru's father?" she asked uncertain of the man's relation to Shikamaru. 'He looks pretty young.'

"Yes I am, and your Temari Kazekage from Shikamaru's class, are you not?"

Temari nodded as he approached.

Finally stopping a few feet in front of her, he gave her a smile that showed his age and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"You to, sir" Temari responded returning the smile as she shook his hand as well.

"Dad, are you sure there are only two this time? I have to get up early tomorrow and I don't feel like making any last minute trips tonight." Shikamaru said coming into the room keys and papers in hand as he approached them.

"Yes Shikamaru, I know about the competition tomorrow. There are only two, and I have the others covering for you tomorrow." His dad said slapping Shikamaru on the back.

"Oh, are we looking for more people, because Temari's brother is looking for a job."

"Is that right, well, bring him here tomorrow after the competition and we can have an interview." Shikamaru's dad said rubbing his chin.

"Okay, thanks old man." Shikamaru said receiving a glare. "Let's go Temari."

"Okay. It was nice meeting you Mr. Nara" Temari smiled and waved.

"The names Shikaku please no formalities Temari." He said as he stood at the open watching the two teens.

Temari just nodded in response.

Shikamaru led Temari around the side of the house where she spotted his van.

They climbed in and took off. Temari turned and waved once more to Shikaku.

"Your dads really nice" Temari said turning to face Shikamaru.

"Yah, he's a pretty good guy." Shikamaru smiled.

Shikamaru pulled into Temari's driveway moments later.

"Thanks Shikamaru, I had fun today." She smiled at him undoing her seatbelt.

"I'm glad" he chuckled, "I had fun too." He smiled at her.

Temari leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow." She said quietly face slightly pink.

She climbed out of the van and waved at Shikamaru before she went inside. A smile graced his lips as he sped off into the night, leaves dancing in a whirlwind from his speed.

Wow, well, I have barely slept in about 4 or so days. I just kept thinking 'I have to write, I have to write!' I think I may have left the house 2 times in those 4 days, not including when I put the dog out. My ass hurts dammit!!!

Well, again I am sorry about the wait and I hope you guys like this chapter, it was 30 pages long.

tasha


	8. Chapter 8

Temari was in the kitchen trying to decide what to eat. She couldn't sleep and decided around 3 to get up and wander. She was still very nervous about the duet, but that's not what was worrying her the most

'What if when we're done tomorrow it's the end of our time together? He's only come around so much because we needed to practice. I really like being with him and he seems to enjoy being with me.' Temari finally decided to eat an orange. 'I think I'll go for a ride to try and clear my head.'

Temari rode her bike down along the familiar streets when someone caught her eye. Temari stopped just in front of him and asked "Aren't you Chouji?"

Chouji was a bit taken back "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, uh, I'm friends with Shikamaru and my brother Kankuro also told me who you were." She replied sheepishly.

"Oh" Chouji began to look uncomfortable as an awkward silence ensued.

Temari took that time to take in her surroundings. 'How did I end up here?' She was standing on Doe Rd., just near the entrance. 'Chouji had been coming from Shikamaru's at this hour?'

"Did you go and see Shikamaru at 5 in the morning?" she asked curiously.

Chouji blushed "Not exactly." He looked Temari in the face "I couldn't sleep and I needed fresh air. I used to come down here a lot and decided to check it out. I missed being down here." He whispered the last part.

"So you miss Shikamaru?" Chouji nodded. Temari smiled. "He misses you too."

Chouji gave a sad smile then looked away. Temari leaned over and gave him a hug. "I know he misses your friendship and I know he's not angry with you." She whispered.

Chouji just stood there and allowed Temari to hug him, it made him feel better. "Thank-you."

Temari pulled away and smiled reassuringly. "You should come to the music competition tomorrow, Shikamaru and I will be performing a duet together. I'm sure he would like your support."

"Do you think he would mind?" Chouji asked uncertainly.

"He defiantly wouldn't mind. Please say you'll come, and bring Ino with you as well."

"Are you sure?" Chouji asked wide eyed.

"Definitely."

"We'll be there for sure." He smiled.

"Oh, hey, do you need a lift home?" Temari asked warmly.

Chouji looked relieved, "That would be great."

Temari had left Chouji on his doorstep looking white as a sheet and stiff as a board.

'What is it with men and my driving?' Temari wondered as she drove away.

By now the sun had begun to rise and Temari decided to make a special treat for breakfast; cinnamon buns! She turned on the radio and began to mix and knead the dough. She was singing along to 'Buck65's' zombie apocalypse when Kankuro decided to join her.

"Hey" Kankuro mumbled as he sat on the stool to watch.

"Hey, I'm almost ready to put these in the oven." She replied pouring cinnamon spice over the rolls. "You're up pretty early, what's up?"

"I was up all night reading the rest on this" Kankuro put the copy of returning home on the table. "I just finished."

"How was it?" Temari asked putting the pan in the oven and setting the timer.

"Really good. I never knew much about our family; it was defiantly an eye opener."

Temari smiled then gave her brother a hug. "There was a lot that none of us kids knew."

"Like the fact that our house used to have tours going through it on a weekly basis?" Kankuro asked as he pulled away.

"Yah, I never thought to ask any questions about all the party's mom and dad were having. I just figured it was because of dad's job, but they were in fact all on a tour."

"It's kind of weird, but really cool."

"Ding!"

"Oh good their done" Temari got up and took the buns from the oven and poured the glaze over them. "I'm glad you thought it was cool."

"Why's that?" Kankuro asked as he reached for a steaming bun and dropped it in front of him then sucked his fingers.

"We were contacted by the same museum mom used to work for to see if we wanted to continue with the tours." Temari handed him a plate. "I accepted, the tours start December 1st."

"When did they contact you? How come I wasn't told?" Kankuro asked with his mouth full.

"They called a week and a half ago and they will be paying us really good money for it. We didn't say anything because we wanted you to read the book first."

Temari picked up a cinnamon bun and put it on a plate. "We have also been paid to keep the house looking good. That's why we did all the yard work last week. We have to finish cleaning the inside pretty soon."

"More cleaning?"

"Just because there's a part of the house we don't use doesn't mean it shouldn't be cleaned."

Kankuro sighed then finished eating. "I guess I have no choice."

"I don't intend to do all the work you know."

Kankuro glanced over his shoulder to see Gaara in his pj's walking into the kitchen.

"By the way, I was the one who contacted the museum manager first to see what he would think about our house being occupied once again. I had to leave a message and you just happened to pick up the phone when he called back." Gaara said picking up and biting into one of the cinnamon buns.

"I was wondering how they knew the number, I mean we did have to reconnect the phones and get a new number." Temari said thoughtfully. Temari looked over at the clock and decided it was time to get ready for the day.

"I'm gonna go and get ready, oh, by the way Gaara, Shikamaru's dad says he can give you a job within his delivery business. He said if you're interested you should drop by after the competition."

"I think I'll do that" Gaara said, "Thanks."

Temari smiled then left the room.

An hour later Temari was in the foyer waiting for her brothers. She was wearing a purple flared skirt and a black tight fitting shirt. She wore plain black heals and had her hair down. Just a small amount of purple eye shadow and lip-gloss finished her ensemble.

Gaara was downstairs few minutes later wearing old fashioned brown pinstriped dress pants with a dark dress shirt and vest. He looked like a modern 1950s worker. It was sharp.

"You look really good" Temari said as Kankuro came into the hall from the kitchen chomping on some cookies.

"Thanks" Gaara said getting red in the face.

"Well let's get going then." Temari said as she made her way through the kitchen and out to the garage. They drove for 20 minutes to where the competition was being held.

There were thousands of people and it took them a while to locate Genma, the music teacher, but after a bit of searching they found him beside Shikamaru biting his nails.

Genma shot up as soon as he had seen them. "There you are! So good to see you! Are you ready? Are you nervous? You shouldn't be you'll all do great! Holy crap! What time is it?" He just kept prattling on and on.

Temari glanced at Shikamaru and blushed. His hair was in that high ponytail again and he was wearing a deep green dress shirt and jeans. He looked very handsome.

He smirked at Temari and winked. Temari just giggled.

"Pianists! Please make your way back stage! Pianists!"

Genma went white as a sheet. Stiffly he turned to Gaara and put his hands on his shoulders. "Everything will be ok, right?"he asked Gaara.

"Calm the hell down" Gaara said quiet and dangerously.

"Ok" Genma straitened and thanked Gaara, then proceeded to the audience and sat down.

"Well good luck!" Kankuro said cheerfully, then went and joined Genma.

Gaara, Temari and Shikamaru went back stage to get prepared.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 46th annual music competition. If everyone will just take their seats we may begin. First up will be the pianists. Performing first will be Gaara Kazekage of Konoha High, grade 11. He will be performing 'sandy dreams', written by Gaara himself."

Gaara walked on to the stage and seated himself at the piano. When he began to play the croud went silent. His solo went on for several minutes, playing beautiful music very fluidly. If you had asked anyone there that dya what they heard they would say 'When I closed my eyes I was in a desert, first I felt sad but very light, then the sand would swirl and reveal a blooming field with buzzing beeze and a warm breeze. I fell in love.'

When Gaara had finished playing the last notes rang through the air and then everything went quiet. The audience was genuinely stunned before one by one they broke out into applause, then a standing ovation.

Gaara got up gave an awkward bow then walked off stage.

There were 7 other pianists to perform, then began the various other instrument sections before at last the singers were up. Shikamaru and Temari were the last to perform.

"And last but not least Temari Kazekage and Shikamaru Nara from Konoha High, grade 12. They will be performing 'Fate' written by Ana Johnsson."

"Ready?" Shikamaru whispered to Temari as they walked on stage.

"I think so" Temari whispered back nervously.

"Don't worry your amazing. Everyone will love you." Shikamaru blushed.

"You too." Temari smiled and went red as well.

Shikamaru took hold of Temari's hand as they walked up the microphone.

You change the sound of my name  
A moment of truth that I saw in your face  
It hurts inside, a moment this vile  
That you brought to life  
All the roads lead back to you

Give me something to return to  
In your heart  
I fear nothing but to leave here  
Without you for life  
We were left in this world for each other  
But I can't run from the fate  
I've been fighting for so long

You made me who I am  
Until the dawn of time  
I have walked alone  
You tie up a storm  
When all hope was lost  
But time revolves  
I have to let go  
One never meant to be

Give me something to return to  
In your heart  
I fear nothing but to leave here  
Without you for life  
We were left in this world for each other  
But I can't run from the fate  
I've been fighting for so long

Give me something to return to  
In your heart  
I fear nothing but to leave here  
Without you for life

Give me something to return to  
In your heart  
I fear nothing but to leave here  
Without you for life  
We were left in this world for each other  
But I can't run from the fate  
I've been fighting for so long

We were left in this world for each other  
I can't run from the fate  
I've been fighting for so long

When they had finished singing a couple of people were on their feet staring, then the applause started; first quiet then defining.

Throughout their performance Shikamaru and Temari held hands and only looked at each other, but when the applause started they finally looked out at the audience. Shikamaru couldn't believe his eyes at first, Chouji was standing at the front of the crowd with Ino, both smiling and cheering.

Shikamaru smiled at them and gave a little wave. Chouji whistled and kept clapping.

Temari and Shikamaru walked off stage to await the results.

Temari grabbed hold of Shikamaru's arm and hugged it to her chest, flushed.

"The winner of the pianists was" announcer pulled open an envelope, "Gaara Kazekage of Konoha High, grade 11."

Gaara walked on stage and was given flowers. He went and sat in a row of chairs on stage, set there for the winners.

"Of the violinist portion….

"Of the obo portion….

"Of the guitar portion….

"Of the flute portion….

"Of the solo singer portion….

"And last of the duet singers our winners are…" the man pulled out another envelope. "Temari Kazekage and Shikamaru Nara of Konoha High, grade 12."

Temari turned and kissed Shikamaru in her excitement. Shikamaru was shocked as she pulled away blushing like mad. She grabbed his hand and walked on stage, into the lights and sound. After they sat down the crowd went wild with applause.

"Congratulations to all the contestants, you did an amazing job. The grand prize to each of the winners is $1000 and a new instrument of your choice."

Shikamaru, Temari and Gaara went to find Genma and Kankuro.

"You guys were beyond amazing!" Genma hugged them all and prattled on about how he wasn't nervous at all when Shikamaru got a tap on the shoulder. Chouji was there with Ino, both smiling uncertainly.

Shikamaru hugged Chouji "It's really good to see you. How did you know about today?" he asked pulling away.

"Temari found me wandering the streets at 3 this morning and invited ma and Ino. She also gave me a ride home." Chouji added losing some of his colour.

Shikamaru laughed recognizing his expression. "Don't worry, no matter how scary her driving is, she actually very safe."

Chouji laughed as well.

Temari turned and smiled at Ino holding out her hand. "Hey, it's good to finally meet you, I'm Temari."

Ino shook her hand. "Likewise, I'm Ino. You were amazing up there, really blew me away."

Temari blushed and smiled "Thanks."

Shikamaru and Chouji walked over. Ino looked at Shikamaru unsure then gave him a hug.

"It's good to see you again. I was really impressed, you two made a great match." She said pulling away.

Kankuro and Gaara walked over with Genma still blabbering on behind them. "We're going to shove off now." Kankuro said

"We have to get going to." Chouji said taking Ino's hand.

"Don't be a stranger" Shikamaru said patting his shoulder.

"We should go shopping sometime Ino" Temari laughed taking Ino's other hand.

"I love shopping! I'll give you my number," she handed Temari a small piece of paper, "Call anytime." Ino smiled and he and Chouji left.

"We still going out for supper?" Kankuro asked impatiently.

"Shikamaru you wanna join us?" Temai asked.

"Sounds good."

"Genma will you be dining with us as well?" Gaara asked the now silent man.

"You don't mind?" They shook their heads. "Sure" he said happily.

Shikamaru was driving over to Chouji's place late that night after receiving a text from him.

'Come meet me at my place, we need to talk' is what he said.

Shikamaru pulled up and Chouji hopped in. It felt like nothing had ever happened between them, like they were best friends again and they both knew it.

"What's up?" Shikamaru asked.

"You're different" Chouji stated.

"How so?"

"You're not lazy anymore, you're constantly smiling and you seem genuinely happy. I think it's Temari, she makes you happy. Ino and I agree, she seems like a really sweet and perfect girl for you."

"Chouji…" Shikamaru started getting red in the face.

"No, just listen. I've wanted to talk with you for a while now. Sometime I would go for walks at night when I couldn't sleep and end up on your street without meaning to. Temari told me that she knew, she could tell that you missed our friendship, that you missed me. I missed my best friend, I missed hanging out with you, and I know that I never would have gone to see you today if it wasn't for Temari encouraging me. She told me that you weren't upset with me or Ino anymore and knowing that gave me the courage, her words helped me overcome the growing fear I had. I was afraid you hated me" Chouji covered his eyes as he silently began to cry,

Shikamaru reached over and hugged him. "You're my best friend and always will be. I could never hate you no matter what happens. And your right she does make me really happy." He smiled, pulling away. "I like her a lot; she's unlike any girl I've ever met. She's always surprising me with how different she really is. You should see the books she reads; world history, biology, astrology, biographies; serious, knowledgeable books and she really gets into them. She used to do desert racing back in Egypt, which is why her driving is so scary, plus she's a serious mechanic, she comes by and fixes dad's vans every time something happens to them. As you know she sings but she also plays the guitar, the flute, the mandolin and knows enough about a piano and violin to play simple songs. I love being around her, I just, I think, I love Temari." He finished as his words sunk in. He turned to Chouji who was smiling really wide looking very pleased.

"I love her."

"I know you do, it was quite obvious. Glad you've come to your senses." Chouji clapped him on the back and got out of the van. "Go do something about it."

"Thanks Chouji, I will, right away!" Shikamaru drove down the street knowing what he had to do.

It was Sunday, the day after the competition and Temari had begun cleaning the attic, sweeping and dusting. Its always good to start at the top when doing so. She had been finding lots of old stuff that was passed down in the family; portraits, photographs, furniture, books, a couple push petal sewing machines and various other objects.

These were things she was interested in but every now and then she would stop and touch her lips. She kept remembering the kiss she gave to Shikamaru and would smile. Last night went well, they had all gone out for sushi and Genma had a bit too much sake to drink, while everyone else had just the one cup. Shikamaru gave Genma a lift home and they hadn't talked since.

"Temari the phone's for you" Gaara said startling her. He was holding the phone.

"Oh, thanks," Temari accepted it. "Hello?"

"Hey Temari it's me Tsubaki, I was wondering if you could come in to work today? I know its short notice but something came up and I can't get through to Shikamaru."

"Oh, yah, sure. Be there in a jiff." Temari hung up and gave Gaara the phone. "I have to go to work. You should go see Shikamaru's dad today."

"I was about to leave when the phone rang."

They both went downstairs and got into their respective vehicles and left.

'I'm a bit dusty but this should be ok.' Temari's hair was up and she was wearing jeans, a black t-shirt and sneakers. As she parked in front of the store she took off her helmet and walked in.

"Oh Temari, that was fat, I won't be gone long I just need some coffee. Dou you want some?" Tsubaki said as she pulled out her keys and was walking to the door.

"Sure sounds good." Tsubaki smiled then left.

Temari wandered around downstairs to see if anyone was there. The store was empty. 'What's going on anyways, I thought we were closed on Sunday's. Maybe she needs help stocking the shelves?'

Temari stopped dead, she heard something moving overhead.

Slowly and quietly she made her way upstairs. Everything seemed to be fine, nothing out of place, but there was a light on in the bathroom. Temari crept closer, just then the door flew open and Shikamaru was standing there shirtless towel drying his hair. 'Why's he showering at work? What's he even doing here?'

Shikamaru smiled at her as he put the towel down and walked up to her.

"Temari" he murmured, touching her cheek, "I need to tell you something."

Temari went red, "Why did you shower here? Why are you even here?"

Shikamaru just smiled took her hand and pulled her to the part of the mural that was her favourite. She looked at it and gasped, tears coming to her eyes.

"That's my face," she whispered.

"It's finished, I was here all night. Temari…" She turned to face him. He grabbed her face and kissed her with the love and passion that he felt. When he pulled away they were both red and panting.

"I love you Temari," He said, his forehead touching hers.

"I love you too," she cried embracing him.

"I love happy endings." Tsubaki cried from the stairs holding coffee and muffins for all.


End file.
